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$3.50/  CAN.  $4.50 
DECEMBER  1988 


FIRST  ON  EVERY  AMIGA  OWNER'S  LIST!       H|C| 


FIRST  STEPS  TO  BECOMING  AN  AMIGA  PRODUCER 


IYTHM 
FOR  THE  AMIGA 


LIGHTS!  CAMERA!  ACTION! 
•  TWINDRIVE  •  X-SPECS  3D 

•  FINEPRINT  •  POWERSTYX 
AND  MANY  MORE  NEW  PRODUCTS 


BRIDGING  THE  GAP  FOR 
8RIDGEBOARD  USERS 


THE  BUSINESS  OF  AMIGA 

ENTREPRENEURING 


It's  Time  To  See  How  Your  Word  Processor 
Stacks  Up  To  ProWrite™  2.0 


Feature 


ProWrite 


Scribble 


T 


TextCraft 


VizaWrite 


KindWords 


7! 


LPD  Writer 


7 


SPELLING  CHECKER 


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7" 


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MAILMERfiE 


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7" 


OPEN  MULTIPLE  DOCUMENTS 


TRUE  MULTIPLE  FONTS 


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LNCITDE  COLOR  GRAPHICS 


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PLACE  GRAPHICS  ANYWHERE  ON  THE  PAGE 


Z 


USE  COLOR  FONTS 


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7^ 


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WYSIWYG  DISPLAY 


77 


USER-SETABLE  PREFERENCES 


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LEFT,  RIGHT  AND  DECIMAL  TABS 


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PARAGRAPH  SORTING 


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CHARACTER,  WORD,  LINE.  .AND  PARAGRAPH  COUNTS 


Z 


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EAST  GRAPHICS  PRINTING 


z 


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USE  ANY  PREFERENCES  PRINTER 


z 


ALTOMATICALLY  CONFIGURES  TO  PRINTER 


Now  You  Can  Trade  Up  To  ProWrite  And  Save  $50 


See  for  yourself — trade  in  your  current  word  processing  software,  and  get  $50  off  when 
you  order  ProWrite.  the  only  multi-font  color  graphics  word  processor  for  the  Amiga  ! 
ProWrite  2.0  has  a  number  of  powerful  new  features,  A  spelling  checker  with  a  95.000- 
word  dictionary.  Mail  merge.  The  ability  to  read  hold-and-modify  ( I IAM  )  pictures,  and  to 
resize  pictures  as  well.  In  addition,  ProWrite  has  the  Workbench  1.3  printer  drivers,  for 
much  faster  and  liigher  quality  graphics  printing.  All  this,  plus  ProWrite  's  flexibility  and 
casc-of-use  combine  to  make  ProWrite  the  best  word  processor  for  die  Amiga. 

Here's  die  offer:  just  send  us  the  master  disk  of  die  word  processor  you're  using  now. 
ind  get  ProWrite,  version  2.0,  for  only  $"5!  That's  a  savings  of  40%  — which  makes  this 
a  perfect  time  to  reconsider  your  word  processor.  Because  now,  when  you  compare 
ProWrite  and  the  competition,  it  really  pays! 

CALL  FOR  A  FREE  BROCHURE  ON  PROWRITE  .AND  FLOW  , 
THE  IDEA  PROCESSOR  FOR  AMIGA. 


New  Horizons 


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First  In  Personal  Productivity  And  Creativity. 
I'.O.  Uox  -1316-  /  Austin.  Texas  ~XT-\ 5  I  (512)  328-6650 

PruW'nic  isx  Lnukrrurk  of  New  Horizon*  Software,  Inc.  Amijp  t>.i  FCgftteRd  Cradcmadc  ol  Commodorc<Amiga,  life 


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Hr    Hfc*1tN] 


I'M  READY  TO  MOVE  UP  TO 
PROWRITE  2.0! 

Here's  my  word  processor  master  disk  and  a  check  or  money  order 

for  S^S  payable  to  New  Horizons  Software.  Inc.  Send  me  the  new 

ProWrite  2.0!  (Texas  residents  please  add  $6  sales  tax ). 


Prepare  to 


to  LightSpeed 


SOFTWARE  ORDERS  OVER  $100 
SHIPPEDFREE! 

Continental  US  only.  Shipped  via  UPS  2nd  Day  Air. 


CODs  add  $2.50. 


r 

Ma 

V-Mflia 
mMag 

mfjjsn 


HARDWARE/ACCESSORIES    ENTERTAINMENT 

'Amigen  (Mimetics)  . .  .  $159 

CM!  Processor  Accel  . .  $169    Arkanoid $23 


DESKTOP  PUBLISHING 


UTILITIES 

CygnusEd $  69 1 


CM!  VI-500 $  59, 

flicker  Fixer  $489, 


Comic  Setter $  69  I  GOME $25/ 


Battle  Chess $  35  j  Pagesefter $69; 

Better  Dead  Than  Alien  .  $  25  /  Professional  Pige $249  j 


'  Project  D  Copier S  32 ' 

j  Quarterback  $  49  j 

Magm '4004  Genlock  .  $15951  Beyond  Zork $  35 7  Publishing  Partner         $139  I  TxEdP/us $  59 1 

Master-3A  3.5 DD $165    Bionic  Commando $  29  ' 

v  ORDERS  &  CUSTOMER  SERVICE 


<  Panasonic  Camera  ....  $249    Capone  . 


PROGRAMMING: 

Benchmark  Module  2  . .  $139 

Benchmark  Libs  (ea)  . .  $  69  I  Perfect  Sound $  691  Captain  Blood $35, 

Lattice  C++ $375    ProGEN  Genlock $379    Carrier  Command  .  ...  $  32, 

Manx  Aztec  C  Prof.  ,.,$149    PmRAM  8MB  OK  Board  $249  j  Contra $  29/   Hours:  Mon-Fri  7-6  Sat  9-3  (PST) 

Manx  Aztec  C  Devel.    . .  $199    Supra  Drive  20Mb  . .  . .  $699    Creature S  29, 

Manx  Source  Debugger  $  59  /Supra  2400  Modem  . , .  $145 1  Dungeon  Master $29, 

j  Echilon $  35, 

Fairy  Tale  Adventure  . .  .$  35, 

Firepower $19. 

Flight  Simulator  II  .,,.$35    AUSTRALIA'. 


THE  LIGHTSPEED  ADVANTAGE 

m  Over  m  years  Amiga    m  Up-front  policies, 
market  experience.         m  No  hidden  costs  or 
m  Amiga '"  only.  surcharges. 

m  Mainframe  Processing    m  Toli-Free  Customer 
System  for  improved        Service, 
service  and  support.       m  Competent  non- 
r  Competitive  Prices.  commission  staff. 


1-800-525-4428 


\  INTERNATIONAL  TOLL-FREE ORDERING! \ 
/(MINIMUM  ORDER  $100  US) 


I  Amiga  is  a  trademark  of 
Commodore-Amiga. 


MUSIC/MIDI 

DrTs  Copyist  $165 

Or  Ts  ESOapade $  99 

DrTsKCSvl.Ba  $179 

DrTs  MIDI  Studio  ....$49 

Dynamic  Studio $149 

ECE  Midi  Interface S  49 

Hypertec  MIDI  tnt $75 

Midi  Gold  (5001 $  59 

MusicX S199 

Perfect  Sound $  69 


Flight  Sim.  ii  Scenery. .  $  191  Overseas  Freephone  Toll-Fiee:  0014-800-12-5632 
Impossible  Mission  II . .  $  35     /»*.»» nA 

Land  of  Legends $35      oA/WU/A' 

Lords  of  Rising  Sun  ...$  35/  Toll-Fme  Service  Call:1-800-843-2555 

Lurking  Horror $29      __,        _   ,    _,  , ,.      .  ,     __„  -—,J„„„ 

Major  Motion $  29/   Orders  Only  Please!  For  info:  503-777-1008 

Outrun $  35 

P.O.W. 


If  you  don  t  see  it  fisted. . 

.Just  ask! 


$  29 

Power  at  Sea $32 

Rocket  Ranger $  35 

Rush'n Attack $  29 

Stargtiderli $  32 

Stellar  Conflict $  29 

Sub  Battle $  35 

Superstar  Ice  Hockey  . .  $  35  j 

The  Three  Stooges . ...  $  35 

The  Train $  32/ 

Turbo $  19/  „ 

/  Double  Oregon 


POLICIES: 

Shipping  Into:  Softy/are  rates  are  S2. 50/item  ($5. 00 
max)  via  UPS  ground.  For  UPS  2nd  Day  Air  add  $1.50. 
CODs  add  $2. 50.  Fed-Ex  Next  Day  $15. 00  or  less  {under 
5  pounds).  Other  carriers,  hardware,  and  Foreign  rates 
may  he  extra. 

Other  policies:  No  charge  to  Credit  Card  until  shipping 
date.  Exchanges  for  same  item  only  No  refunds.  We 
cannot  guarantee  pmduct  satisfaction. 


ELECTRONIC  ARTS!  /  PRODUCTIVITY  j  GRAPHICS/ANIMATION 

ADSD  Heroes $  30  /Acquisition S 199    Animate  3D $  99  , 

Annals  of  Rome S  25  I  Beckertext $  99    Digi  view  3.0 $145 , 

Awesome  Arcade  Pak  .  .$  35    Critics  Choice $169    Director $  49 , 

BardsTalell $  39    Data  Retrieve $  59  j Fantavision $  45 , 

BattieDroidi S  25  J  Dynamic  Word $99/  IntroCAD $  59  : 

Deluxe  Music $  65  /  Excellence! $175  j  Lights  Camera  Action  . .  $  59 ;' 

Deluxe  Paint  II $  85  j  KindWords $  65 1  Modeler  3D $  99  j 

Deluxe  Photo  Lab $95    Maxiplan  Pius $129 1  Pageflipper  Plus  F/X ...$119  / 

Deluxe  Print  II  $  59  j  Microfiche  Flier $  69  j  Photon  Paint $  65 , 

.  $  29    Money  Mentor $  69/  Sculpt  3D  ..  . .  $  69 , 


Empire $  35  I  ProWnte2.0 $79!  ThreeDemon  $  69 , 

Ferrari  Formula  One  . . .  S  35  /  Superbase  Pro $189    Turbo  Silver  3D  V3.0  . .  $129  < 

Firezone $  25     The  Works  $129    Videoscape  3D  $129 , 

Gettysburg $39 

Gone  Fishn  ..$32  /  NOVEMBER  SPECIAL! 


Interceptor $  32 

Ouestron  II $  35 

Reach  tor  the  Stars  $  30 

Roadwars $25 

Rubicon  Alliance $  23 

Shi/oh  $30 

Skyfoxll $29 

Twilights  Ransom $  25 


Roe  Earl  Weaver  Cap  with  every 
purchase  of  Earl  Weaver  Baseball 
0nly$35! 

New!  Commissioners  Team  Disk! S  15 


I  Studio  Magic $  69  j  TV  Sports  Football $35 

ISonix $  49     Universal  Military  Sim  . .  $  35/  WizardWars $  29 

• 'Texture $119  I Zoom $  23  j  World  Tour  Golf $30 


WordPerfect $195 j X-Cad Designer $389  I 

Word  Perfect  Library  . .  $  85  Zoetrope $  99  I 


6335SES2n4.  Pbrilamf.  OR  97266,  (503)  777-100S,  fitT:  (SS3)  777-1252 
A  Division  o/DoAsis  Systems,  Inc. 


Circle  M71  on  Reader  Service  Card 


Ahoyls 


i\migaLJs 


CONTENTS 


DEPARTMENTS 

View  from  the  Bridge  6 

It's  been  a  great  '88 -but  what's  the  '89  line  on  Ahoyls  AmigaUser? 

Scuttlebutt  8 

Roll  up  your  pants!  The  tidal  wave  of  new  Amiga  products  isn't  stopping. 

Entertainment  Software  Section  34 

Games  you'll  want  to  see  in  your  stocking -or  see  burn  over  the  Yule  log. 

Reviews 48 

We  look  through  some  3-D  glasses,  see  how  a  dual  drive  stacks  up,  and  more. 

Flotsam   59 

Some  write  to  praise  us.  some  to  bury  us  — but  all  your  letters  are  welcome. 

Art  Gallery   64 

Artists -impress  the  tar  out  of  your  user  group  and  earn  a  free  subscription! 

COLUMNS 

Amiga  Toolbox  by  Michael  R.  Davila  46 

Equip  the  workshop  of  your  mind  with  knowledge  useful  to  every  Amiga  owner. 

Exec  File  by  Ted  Salamone   40 

More  on  using  the  Amiga  successfully  in  a  small  business  environment. 

Eye  on  CLI  by  Richard  Herring  43 

A  batch  of  tricks  to  make  Startup-Sequence  more  productive  and  powerful. 

FEATURES 

Whither  Amiga  Video  by  Richard  Herring  23 

Amiga-aided  desktop  video  will  have  wide  appeal  in  business  and  education. 

Desktop  Video:  What  It  Is  by  Jay  Gross  29 

You'll  find  that  your  Amiga  is  right  at  home  on  a  desktop  devoted  to  video. 

Desktop  Video:  What  Does  It  Cost?  by  Jay  Gross  31 

The  cost  varies  from  the  consumer  to  "prosumer"  to  professional  levels. 

Amiga  RS-232C  Standard  Communication  61 

Build  the  cables  you  need  for  using  serial  peripherals  on  your  Amiga. 

The  Byte  Goes  On  by  Steve  King   66 

Drum  machines  for  the  Amiga  — snare  the  package  that's  best  for  your  needs. 

MS-DOS  Meets  AmigaDOS,  Part  I  by  Ted  Salamone  71 

Making  the  most  of  MS-DOS  3.2  on  your  Bridgeboard-equipped  Amiga  2000. 

Cover  art  by  Robert  Dominiak 


President 
Michael  Schneider 

Publisher 
David  Allikas 

Executive  Editor 
Michael  R.  Davila 

Art  and  Production  Director 
Laura  Palmeri 

Senior  Editor 
Richard  Curcio 

Consulting  Editors 
Morton  Kevelson 

Tun  Moriarty 

Dale  Rupert 

Entertainment  Editor 
Arnie  Katz 

Art  Production 
Christopher  W.  Carter 

Circulation  Director 
W.  Charles  Squires 

Production  Manager 
Mark  Kammerer 

Director  of  Promotion 
Trisha  Clark 

Controller 
Dan  Tunick 

Promotion  Art  Director 
Stacy  Miller 

Controller 
Dan  Tunick 

Advertising  Representative 

JE  Publishers'  Representative 

6855  Santa  Monica  Blvd. 

Suite  200 
Los  Angeles,  CA  90038 

(213)  467-2266 

Dallas  (214)  660-2253 

New  York  (212)  724-7767 

Chicago  (312)  445-2489 

Denver  (303)  595-4331 

San  Francisco  (415)  864-3252 


ISSUE  NO.  4 


DECEMBER  1988 


Ahoyls  AmigaUser  is  published  monthly  by  Ion  In- 
ternational Inc.,  45  W.  34th  St.,  Suite  500,  New 
York,  NY  10001.  Subscription  rate:  12  issues  for 
$27.95,  24  issues  for  $4&95  (Canada  and  elsewhere 
$3655  and  $63.95  respectively).  Application  to  mail 
at  second  class  postage  rates  is  pending  at  New 
York,  NY  10001  and  additional  mailing  offices.  * 
1988  by  Ion  International  Inc.  All  rights  reserved. 
®  under  Universal  International  and  Fan  American 
Copyright  conventions.  Reproduction  of  editorial  or 
pictorial  content  in  any  manner  is  prohibited.  No 
responsibility  can  be  accepted  for  unsolicited  ma- 
terial. Postmaster,  send  address  changes  to  Ahoyl's 
AmigaUser,  45  W.  34th  Street,  Suite  500,  New  York, 
NY  10001.  Direct  all  address  changes  or  matters 
concerning  voiir  subscription  to  Ahoyls  AmigaUser, 
P.O.  Box  #341,  Ml.  Morris,  IL  61054  (phone:  815- 
734-4151).  All  editorial  inquiries  and  products  for 
review  should  be  sent  to  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser,  45  W. 
34th  St.,  Suite  500,  New  York,  NY  10001. 


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72  Holes  in 


ThuiTH*5 


-I,—-' 


Hole-In-One  Miniature  Golf  combines  digitized  sound, 
quality'  graphics  and  superior  playability  with  realistic  ball  play' 
to  give  you  the  best  miniature  golf  game  made! 

Utilizing  the  mouse  (point  and  click)  interface,  DigiTek 
Software  has  created  a  game  that  will  challenge  adults  yet  is 
so  simple  to  play  that  children  can  play  as  easily  as  adults 
from  the  very  first  game.  This  game  supports  up  to  4  players 
making  it  one  of  the  few  games  that  the  entire  family  really 


Amiga  versions  shown  here. 


can  enjoy  together. 

Hole-In-One  Miniature  Golf  is  72  Holes  of  pure  run  in  4 
separate  courses  that  give  you  classic  miniature  golf  as  well  as 
hilarious  fantasy  holes.  The  digitized  sounds  of  the  crowds,  the 
ball,  and  special  effects  all  add  to  the  fun  and  realism. 

Another  revolutionary  game  from  the  company  that  brought 
you  Vampire's  Empire,  Amegas,  and  Hollywood  Poker  — 
DigiTek  Software! 


^^  DigiTek 
^Software 

104  West  Seneca,  Suite  4 

Tampa,  Florida  33612 

(813)  933-8023 

( Programmers  wanted  —  write  us!) 

Circle  f138  on  Reader  Service  Card 


RENTING  SOFTWARE 
ISN'T  HARD! 


It's  as  easy  as  picking  up  the 
phone  and  giving  your  order.  If 
you  have  a  credit  card,  it's  even 
easier.  The  hardest  part  may  be 
waiting  for  the  mail  to  come! 

We're  having  a  special  sale, 
with  up  to  80%  off  selected 
software.  Call  now  for  a  com- 
plete list. 


Call  toll-free  ounide  Texav   1-800-433-2938 
-  ImideTexai  call:  817-292-7396 

WEDGWOOD  RENTAL 

53 16  Wood  way  Drive 
Fort  Worth,  Texas  76133 


Circle  »224  an  Reader  Service  Card 


Now  For  The  Amiga! 


Are  you  tired  of  fumbling  under  or  behind 
your  computer  to  swap  your  mouse  and  joy- 
stick cables?  Are  your  cable  and  computer 
connectors  worn  out  from  all  the  plugging  and 
unplugging?  Then  Mouse  Master  is  a  must 
for  you! 


i 


Practical 

Solution/ . 


'39.95* 


1930  E.  Grant  RcL 
Tuc/on.  AZ    85719 

'Retail  price  does  not  602"  884  "9612 

include  shipping  &  handling. 


Circle  »225  on  Reader  Service  Can! 


VII5WFRCM 


THIS  I3MDGIE 


hat's  that— you  never  knew  Santa  kept  his 
records  on  an  Amiga?  He  used  to  own  a 
supercomputer,  but  it  was  accidentally 
shipped  to  a  little  girl  in  Nebraska— seems 
one  of  the  elves  misread  her  request  for  "Crayons."  Then 
he  tried  a  laptop,  but  kept  forgetting  to  move  it  before  kids 
sat  down.  As  we  understand  it,  though,  he's  very  happy  with 
the  Amiga.  With  nearly  a  billion  children  on  file,  you  see, 
he  has  to  do  a  lot  of  multitasking. 

We've  been  as  busy  as  Santa's  elves  putting  together  this 
December  issue  of  Ahoy! 's  AmigaUser.  Here  are  some  of 
the  goodies  inside: 

•  Desktop  video  is  perhaps  the  ideal  Amiga  application. 
There,  your  computer's  graphics,  sound,  and  multitasking 
abilities  are  all  brought  into  play.  In  three  articles  in  this 
issue,  Jay  Gross  and  Richard  Herring  describe  the  origins, 
the  uses,  and  the  advantages  of  Amiga  desktop  video,  touch- 
ing on  everything  from  societal  considerations  to  price  tag. 
(Turn  to  page  23.) 

•  When  drum  machines  became  popular,  many  human 
percussionists  were  put  out  of  work.  Now  the  Amiga  is  going 
to  do  the  same  to  drum  machines.  Steve  King  will  tell  you 
why  your  Amiga  and  any  of  three  commercial  packages  beat 
the  dedicated  units.  (Turn  to  page  66.) 

•  The  authors  of  AmigaUserTerm  (May  '88)  further  en- 
hance your  Amiga's  ability  to  talk  to  the  outside  world  via 
the  RS-232C  port.  In  Amiga  RS-2S2C  Standard  Commun- 
ication, Paul  Maioriello  and  George  Sokolowsky  tell  you 
how  to  build  the  cable  you'll  need  to  connect  a  modem  and 
link  up  with  other  data  communications  equipment.  (Turn 
to  page  61.) 

•  You  may  be  one  of  those  Amiga  owners  who  turns  up 
his  or  her  nose  at  the  mention  of  MS-DOS.  But  to  do  so 
is  to  deprive  yourself  of  access  to  thousands  of  programs 
that  may  never  be  available  on  the  Amiga.  If  you've  inves- 
ted in  a  Bridgeboard  or  even  a  software-based  IBM  emula- 
tor, it  makes  sense  to  learn  to  utilize  MS-DOS  to  the  full- 
est. In  his  miniseries  tided  MS-DOS  Meets  AmigaDOS,  Ted 
Salamone  will  step  you  through  the  world  of  Big  Blue.  (Turn 
to  page  71.) 

•  Members  of  the  Ahoy!  Access  Club  have  already  oohed 
and  ahed  over  the  December  Clipper  bound  into  the  front 
of  their  magazines.  This  month's  edition  contains  discount 
offers  from  Discovery,  DigiTek,  Creative  Computers,  Sun- 
Rize,  and  many  other  companies— offers  not  available  to 
the  general  public.  If  you're  not  a  member,  we  direct  you 
to  page  60,  where  you'll  Find  out  how  to  become  one  free! 

We  hope  this  holiday  season  brings  you  and  your  Amiga 
everything  you've  hoped  for.  (It's  just  a  good  thing  mat  elves 
have  tiny  fingers— otherwise  they'd  never  be  able  to  assemble 
microchips!)  —David  AUikas 


6    AhoyS's  AmigaUser 


Protecting  your  valuable  hard  disk  files  is  easier  and  faster  than  ever  before! 


■■, 


The  FASTEST  Hard  Disk  Backup  Utility! 

Backup  to  or  restore  from: 

•  Floppy  Disks  •  Streaming  tape  (AmigaDOS-compatible) 
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•  Inner-Connection's  Bernoulli  drive    •  ANY  AmigaDOS-compatible  devise 

•  Fast  backup-  20MB  in  30  minutes  orless  •  Uses  two  Happy  drives  (if  available)  tor  backup/restore  with  automatic  switching 

•  Builds,  sons  and  displays  catalog  of  files  and  subdirectories  •  Provides  FUll/Subdirectory/lndividuai  tile  backup/restore 

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before  you  star!  •  Handles  files  Df  unlimited  length,  unlimited  subdirectories  and  unlimited  files  per  subdirectory 

•  Automatically  formats  di  skettes  with  no  delay  as  it  wntes  •  Sequential  ly  numbers  and  date/time  stamps  backup  diskettes 

•  Checks  the  sequence  number  and  date'ti  me  stam  p  of  each  di  skette  befo  re  resto  ring  files  from  t  •  Restores  origi  na)  date/ 

time  stamp,  file  notes,  and  protection  bits  on  both  tiles  and  subdirectories  •  Runs  with  Workbench  or  CLI  •  Produces 

backup'restore  report  to  disk  or  printer  •  Beeps  for  flcppy  change  •  Accepts  CLI  parameters  and  batch  command  files 

•  Detects  bad  disks  during  backup  or  restore  •  Convenient/user  friendly  error  recovery  •Multitasking  •Runs  in  51 2K 

•  No  copy  protection  •  Works  with  all  AmigaDOS  compatible  hard  disk  drives 


Only  $69.35      Plus  53.00  shipping  and  handling,  CA  residents  ass  6?«  sales  tan 


diskJe9ldisk 


Convert  C64/C128  Files  to  the  Amiga! 

DISK-2-D1SK  "  makes  it  easy  and  convenient  to  transfer 
CB4/C128  files  to  and  from  the  Amiga!  DISK-2-DISK  programs 
the  Amiga  model  1 020  external  5.25  disk  drive  to  read  and  write 
1541/4040  and  1570/1571  diskformats  including  1541  "Hippies". 

•  Converts  Commodore/PET  ASCII  to  AmigaDOS  standard  ASCII  and  vice 
versa  •  Transfers  word  processing  text  files  (such  as  Paperclip. 
SpeedScript  and  Pocket  Writer)  to  and  Irom  the  Amiga  lor  use  with  popular 
Amiga  word  processors  •Includes  3  public  domain  programsfor  convert- 
ing C64  Koala.  PrintShop  and  Doodle  dies  to  IFF  formal  •  Finds  and  flags 
dialect  dilferences  between  Commodore  Basic  and  Amiga  Basic  tiles 

•  Provides  VALIDATE  BAM  and  CHECK  DISK  utilities  (VALIDATE  BAM 
verifies  the  directory  structure  ol  the  1541/1571  diskette.  CHECK  DISK 
reads  every  block  of  a  1541/1571  diskette  to  detect  diskette  errors). 

DISK-2-DtSK  requires  the  Amiga  mode!  1 020  S. 25'  disk  drive. 

Only  $49.95 

Plus  S3  00  shipping  and  handling 
CA  residents  add  6°»  sales  tax. 


HUH 
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llHIUli 
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CO. 

D0S-2-D0S  transfers  MS-DOS  and 
Atari  ST  files  to  and  from  AmigaDOS! 

D0S-2-D0S  version  3.0  permits  access  to  any  MS-DOS  volume 
available  via  AmigaDOS.  including  MS-DOS  partitions  on  hard 
disks  and  MS-DOS  volumes  on  LANS  or  SCSI  networks. 

•  Supports  single  and  double  sided  5.25-inch  as  well  as  35-inch  720KB 
MS-DOS  diskettes  •  Reads/Writes  3.5-inch  Atari  ST  diskettes  (GEM 
format)  •  Reads  a  variety  of  5.25-inch  MS-DOS  floppy  formats  via  the 
CLTD  Konica  high-density  Hoppy  drive  •  Converts  ASCII  fife  line-ending 
characters  and  provides  Wordstar  compatibility  •  Supports  full  directory 
path  names,  with  wild  cards  in  (he  file  names  •  Allows  selection  of  MS-DOS 
and  AmigaDOS  subdirectory  and  displays  sorted  directory  listing  •  For- 
mats  3.5-inch  and  5  25-inch  MS-DOS  diskettes  and  Atari  ST  diskettes 

•  Provides  duplicate  file  name  detection  with  query/replace  options 

•  Provides  TYPE  and  DELETE  commands  •  Permits  renaming  of  files 
where  lite  name  restrictions  occur  •  Remains  resident  to  permit  Amiga- 
DOS  disk  swapping. 

Only  $55.00 

Plus  SJ  00  shipping  and  handling 
CA  lesidents  add  6%  sales  tax 


iCSi 


Central  Coast  Software 

268  Bowie  Drive,  Los  Osos,  CA  93402  •  Telephone:  805  /  528-4906  •  FAX:  805  /  528-3138 

DEALER  INQUIRES  WELCOME 


Circle  #191  on  Reader  Service  Card 


0 


SCUTTMSHUT 


i 


WO 


EXPANSION  PERIPHERALS  •  STEREO  AMPLIFIER  •  LIGHT  PEN  • 
MINIATURE  DISK  DRIVES  •  ONLINE  HELP  •  DP  II  VIDEOTAPE  •  VIRUS 
AID  •  GRAPHICS  SHOW  •  GAMES  FROM  MINDSCAPE,  DISCOVERY, 
KONAMI,  ACCESS  •BBS  LAW*  TRADE-IN  EXTENSION  •  FREE  ONLINE  TIME 


FLOPPY  DRIVES 

The  Unidrive  (S169)  and  the  Twin- 
drive  ($299).  two  3.5"  880K  external 
floppy  units  for  the  Amiga,  are  one 
inch  and  two  inches  high  respectively. 
Either  unit  can  be  powered  by  the  Am- 
iga or  from  an  external  power  supply. 
A  hinged  dust  cover  protects  the  heads 
when  the  diskette  is  removed.  Both  are 
also  covered  by  a  one-year  warranty, 
and  a  guaranteed  factory  upgrade  al- 
lows the  Uni  owner  to  move  up  to  a 
Twin  for  $130. 

Memory  and  Storage  Technology, 
Inc.,  602-483-6359  (see  address  list, 
page  22). 

Circle  #148  pn  Render  Service  Card 

LIGHT  PEN 

Inkwell's  Model  184-A  light  pen 
($129.95)  is  plug-compatible  with  Am- 
iga 500,  1000,  2000,  and  A2000  (Ger- 
man version)  computers.  Its  two  touch- 
actuated  switches,  used  in  conjunction 
with  the  included  Amiga  Light  Pen 
Driver,  can  replace  or  be  alternately 
used  with  the  two-button  mouse  for 
data  entry  control.  It  works  through  the 
CLI  or  Workbench  in  either  interlace 


or  non-interlace  modes  with  mouse- 
driven  Amiga  programs.  Suggested  ap- 
plications include  painting,  drawing, 
free-hand  sketching,  and  CAD.  A  help 
manual  is  included  on  the  disk. 

Inkwell  Systems,  619-268-8792  (see 
address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #143  on  Reader  Service  Card 

A2000  AMPLIFIER 

The  Audio  2000  stereo  amplifier  fits 
in  one  of  the  Amiga  2000's  IBM  slots, 
with  no  soldering  required.  A  panel 
that  mounts  where  the  computer's  pow- 
er and  hard  drive  lights  are  located  con- 
tains replacements  for  both,  plus  left 
and  right  volume  controls  and  head- 
phone jack.  The  internally  powered 
unit's  output  is  over  4  watts  per  chan- 
nel (4  ohm  speakers)  and  can  be  used 
with  any  speakers  4  ohms  or  larger. 
Price  is  $79.95  plus  $4.50  shipping; 
OH  residents  add  5.5%  tax. 

Day's,  614-397-5639  (see  address  list, 
page  22). 

Circle  #150  on  Reader  Service  Card 

ONLINE  HELP 

The  ToolCaddy  Docs  are  a  three-vol- 


ume series  of  online  Amiga  help.  Func- 
tions covers  the  entire  complement  of 
Amiga  function  calls;  Structures,  the 
Amiga  structures  contained  in  each  of 
the  INCLUDE  files;  and  Mnemonics, 
the  Motorola  MC68XXX  Instruction 
mnemonics.  The  programs  remain  in 
the  background  until  needed,  then  are 
called  up  by  a  click  on  the  left  Amiga 
key  and  the  right  mouse  button.  The 
three  versions  are  designed  to  work  in- 
dividually, or  to  complement  each 
other  by  sharing  internal  resources.  In- 
formational files  remain  on  disk  until 
selected,  so  total  RAM  requirements 
never  exceed  12K.  Price  is  $39.95  each. 
The  ToolCaddy  Works,  702-298- 
4252  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #151  on  Reader  Service  Card 

VIRUS  RX 

Computer  Viruses— A  High-Tech  Dis- 
ease explains  viruses  (to  which  auto- 
booting  computers  like  the  Amiga  are 
particularly  susceptible),  their  history, 
how  they  work,  and  what  can  be  done 
to  protect  against  them.  Several  rudi- 
mentary programs  demonstrate  some 
of  the  ways  viruses  can  infect  your 


The  Twindrive  (left)  and  Unidrive  floppy  disk  units  are  2"  and  1"  high  respectively.  Power  requirements  are  12mA 
and  6mA  respectively,  allowing  both  drives  to  remain  cool.  A  hinged  dust  cover  protects  the  heads. 


8     Ahoy'.'s  AmigaUser 


QUALITY 


<1 


asaa&iL 


"Der  Neue  Kbnig  Der  Editoren" 

("The  New  King  of  Editors") 

68000er,  February  1988 


CygnusEd  Professional  By  CygnusSoft  Software 
Published  By  ASDG  Incorporated 


The  West  Germans  arc  known  for  their  critical  analysis  of 
new  products.  68000er  magazine  thought  CygnusEd  was  good 
enough  to  rate  the  headline  shown  above.  CygnusEd 
Ptofessional.  for  the  Commodore  Amiga,  is  even  better. 

ftir  Word  Processing  users.  CygnusEd  Protesional  provides  superior 
editing  capabilities.  Use  CygnusEd  Professional  to  formulate  the 
conrent  of  your  document,  then  use  your  Word  Processor  for  what  it 
does  best,  document  formatting. 

For  programmers.  CygnusEd  Professional  will  enhance  your  productivity 
bv  allowing  up  to  ten  files  10  be  edited  at  once  with  lightning  quick 
vertical  and  horizontal  scrolling.  All  users  will  benefit  from  CygnusEd 
Professional's  extcmcly  strong  inter-process  communications  and 
multitasking  capabilities 

"CygnusEd  is  great!  It's  the  best  editor  I've  ever  used,  on  any 
machine."  •  Kevin  Pickcll,  Co-Author  of  "Test  Drive"  by  Distinctive 
Software,  Inc. 

Praise  like  that  is  hard  10  come  by.  but  CygnusEd  Ptofessional  (m  the 
making  for  over  two  years)  stands  an  excellent  chance  at  having  you 
feel  the  same  way. 

Compare  rhese  features  with  those  of  your  present  Word  Processor  or 
editor: 

Editing 

•Delete  and  Undelete  of  characters,  words,  lines,  and  blocks.  'Full 
search  and  replace  facility  with  wild  cards  and  case  sensitivity.  'Visible 
white  space  and  control  characters  it  desired. •"Layout"  mode  for 
inputting  tables  and  diagrams.  •Edit  multiple  files  on  screen 
concurrently.  "Multiple  cooperating  views  of  the  same  file  on  screen 
concurrently.  «Cut  and  Paste  between  files  or  within  the  same  file. 
•Vertical  block  Cut  And  Paste  {in  addition  to  horizontal  block  Cut 
And  Paste).  "Fully  customizable  tab  settings.  "Many  Word  Processing 
features  such  as  paragraph  formatting,  line  centering,  and  automatic 
word  wrapping.  "Many  programmer  oriented  functions  like  "find 
matching  bracket"  and  "auto-indenting." 

Special  Features 

CRASH  RECOVERY:  If  another  program  should  crash  your  Amiga, 
only  CygnusEd  Professional  can  recover  an  edit  in  progress  when  your 
Amiga  crashed!  "Supports  any  allowable  screen  resolution  up  to  1000 
by  800,  •Full  macro  function  capability*  allows  for  remapping  of  the 
keyboard  and  extending  the  funcion  of  CygnusEd  Professional.  'Over 
200  functions  and  variables  are  available  through  an  AREXX 
compatible  interface.  "AREXX  and  DOS  commands  can  be  launched 
from  within  CygnusEd  Professional.  "Hot  Key/Resident  operation. 
•Supports  editing  of  binary  files.  '"ROT  BLOCK"  for  you  UseNetters 
out  rhcre.  •Will  run  in  its  own  screen  or  in  a  window  on  the 
WorkBench  screen.  "Fully  multitasking  and  integrated  into  the  Amiga 
enviroment. 

Amiga.  Kicblart  arc  trademarks  uf  Commodore. Amiga.  Imorporatrd 
CyeriiisEd  Professional    '  I'JKH  CygnusSoft  Sofiwate 
Published  b\  ASDt'r.  Iruinporarril.  Madison.  W] 


Performance 

•Text  search  (case  sensitive  or  insensitive)  at  over  100,000  characters  per 
second.  "Screen  refresh  at  over  30,000  characters  per  second.  •Blittcr 
based  horizontal  and  vertical  scrolling  at  speeds  from  slow  smooth 
scrolling  to  faster  than  the  eye  can  follow. 

Ease  Of  Use 

•Mouse  based  "Turbo-Scrolling"  and/or  Scroll  Bars  (on  left  or  right 
side  of  screen).  'Whenever  the  keyboard  is  used,  the  mouse  cursor 
becomes  invisible  and  reappears  when  the  mouse  is  touched. 
•Requesters  and  dialogs  position  themselves  under  your  mouse  (no 
more  mouse  fatigue!).  "Intuitive  menu  organization.  "Keyboard  short 
tuts  for  most  menu  functions. "Asynchronous  printer  spooler  lets  you 
edit  while  you  print.  "Autosave  function  will  automatically  save  yout 
work  aftct  user  defined  time  periods.  "User  selectable  color  palatte. 
•Any  function  or  keypress  can  be  repeated  a  specified  number  of  times 
(automatically).  "User  definable  "bookmarks"  for  quickly  moving 
between  sections  of  a  file.  "Will  create  icons  for  text  files  if  desired. 
•Optional  stripping  of  carriage  returns  for  files  brought  from  non- 
Amiga  computers. 

International  Support 

•Supports  NTSC  and  PAL  (in  both  interlace  and  non-intcrlace). 
•Supports  international  keymaps  including  "dead  key"  accents. 

General 

•Requires  512K  and  KickStart  1.2  or  later.  •Compatible  with  A500, 
A1000  and  A2000,  'Not  copy  protected.  "Supports  Preferences  style 
printer  capabilities  such  as  underline,  italic,  bold,  superscript,  etc. 
•Includes  the  excellent  public  domain  document  formatter,  PROFF,  by 
Yigit  and  Tress. 

CygnusEd  Professional 

$99-95 

manufacturer!  suggested  retail  pnee 

ASDG 

INCORPORATED       (608)  273-6585 


925  Stewart  Street 
Madison,  Wl  53713 


ASDG  IncorjHinHcd  fflfiflffll  qualitj  and  performance.  Software  developer*,  if  you  think  your 
product  it  the  be«  in  its  fli«.  rhen  ynur  product  BMJ  he  ri^hr  foi  publication  l>>  ASDG. 
Gnr  u*  j  cjH. 


PERFORMANCE 


Circle  #2is  on  Reader  Service  Card 


Creative  Computers 

Orders  only:  800-872-8882  (outside  CA)  213-370-2009  (inside  CA)  Hours:  Mon-Sat  8AM-6PM 
Direct  orders  to:  4453  Redondo  Beach  Blvd..  Lawndale,  CA  90260      FAX:  (213)  214-0932 


GVP  -  Great  Valley  Products 

Impact  SCSI  Controller  and  memory  board,  1  meg  or  2  megs  space 

Will  autoboot  with  1 .3  -  Hard  drives  available  up  to  80  meg  capacity  - 

Call  for  prices. 

GVP  Hard  Cards  and  A500  hard  disks  available.  Please  call. 

Quantum  84  MB  12  m«3.5"  hard  disk:  $99511 

Shock  mounted,  64KB  cache  (for  1 2ms  speed),  SCSI  interface. 

Compatible  with  IMPACT  or  A2090  boards. 

Special;  Spirit  Inboard  for  the  A500  -  just  $1491 


New  products  (as  featured  in 

AmigaWorld): 

Games: 

Operation  Woff 

Buble  Bobble 

Renegade 

Rastan 

Captain  Blood 

Hole-in-one  Miniature  Golf 

Hybris 

Dragon's  Lair 

Who  Framed  Roger  Rabbit 

TV  Sports  Football 


Lords  of  the  Rising  Sun 

Andromeda  Mission 

Cosmic  Bouncer 

Rock  Challenge 

Universal  Military  Simulator 


Productivity: 

Lattice  C++ 

Publishing  Partner  Pro. 

Professional  Data  Retrieve 

ComicSetter 

Please  call  for  prices. 


TTie  Creative  Computers  Advantage: 

-  authorized  Amiga  dealer 

-  the  largest  dealer  of  Amiga  products  in  the  U.S. 

-  tires  store  location  means  excellent  support 

■  Amiga-specific:  unlike  the  competition,  we  don't  claim  being  Amiga 

specific  while  selling  other  brands  under  another  name 

-  Authorized  service  center 

-  Uniform  low  pricing  and  largest  selection,  no  hidden  costs  or 

catches 

-  We  don't  charge  your  card  until  the  product  ships 

And  now,  even  better 

No  credit  card  surcharge  for  Visa  and  Mastercard 

Free  shipping  on  software  orders  over  $100 


Just  Received 

Texture 

Better  Dead  than  Alien 

Final  Assault 

These  products  are  IN  STOCK.  Please  call  for  prices. 

Flicker  Fixer  Promotional: 

For  a  limited  time,  Flicker  Fixer  is  S47B.  Creative  Computers 

wants  every  Amiga  owner  to  enjoy  hi-res  all  the  time.  Many 

compatible  monitors  also  available. 

We  can  beat  any  advertized  pricel  But  we  seldom  have  to, 

because  our  prices  are  the  lowest!  (H  you  see  a  lower  price 

on  an  item,  give  us  a  call) 


3-DEMCN  71.95 

64    EMULATOR    1,    THE  49.9b 

A-TALK    PIUS  SI.  91 

MARSH !  23.95 

AC   BASIC-COMPILER  :■ OR  am:  134.06 

AC    FORTRAN     .  199.00 

ACCOUNTANT,     THE  llt.lt 

ABSUM  SI.  91 

ADVENTURES    OF    SINBAD  32. li 

AESOP'S    TABLES  31.2} 

AIRT    SYMBOLIC    LANGUAGE  4*.  95 

ALGEBRA    1  32.46 

ALGEBRA    It  3  6.13 

ALL    ABOUT   AMERICA  37,47 

ALOHA    FONTS    1.2    4    3  12.96 

ALTERNATE    REALITY  27.06 

AMEGAS  22.72 

AMI1A    DOS    EXPRESS  20.  6D 

AMIGA    KARATE  24.91 

AMIGA    MACHINE    LANS.    DISK  11. 95 

AMICA    TIPS    AND    TRICKS    DISX  11. IS 

ANALYZE    2.0 -SPREADSHEET  93.73 

ANIMAL    KINGDOM  31.23 

ANIMATE -3D  99 .  95 

ANIMATION    EFFECTS  32.46 

tHZHUIOH  M7LTXPUIHI  19.46 

ANIMATION    STAND  32.46 

ANIMATOR    FLIPPER  24. 91 

ANIMATOR    JR.  49.31 

ANIMATOR'S    APPRENTICE  194.lt 

ARCiCI   ACTION  PACK  M.M 

ARCHON    (USE   KICKSTART    1.11  13.17 

ARCTIC    FOX    1.2  26.40 

ARENA  12.96 

ARJLXZ  32 .  » 

ARKAHOID  35.72 

ART    COMPANION  19.95 

ART    GALLERY    FANTASY  23.36 

ART    CALLER Y    I    I    II  It. 73 

ART    OF    CHESS,    THE  22.95 

ASHA'S    rONTS  59.95 

ASSEHPRO  39.97 

AUDIO    MASTER  37.4* 

AITEC    tl/AM-D  224.25 

AZTEC    C    PROFESSIONAL  175.46 

B.E.S.T.    BUSINESS    MOM? .  355.50 

BALLYHOO  27.47 

BARBARIAN  IS. 77 

I  BARD'S    TALE  36.00 


BARD'S    TALE    II  41.95 

BASIC    G RAMMER   SERIES  19,46  ' 

BBS-PC  62.32 

BECKER    TEXT  99.95 

BBHCHHARK    LIBRARIES  CALL 

BENCHMARK    MODULA-2  129.97 

BEYOND    ZCRK  33.76 

BLACK    CAULDRON  29.10 

BLACK    JACK   ACADEMY  29.95 

BLACK  LAMP  21    00 

BLITZKRIEG    AT  ARDENNES  34.41 

BLOCKBUSTER  31.47 

BOMB    SUSTER  21.95 

BREACH  25.95 

BREACH    SCENARIO   DISK  16.11 

BRIDGE    5.0  24.10 

BUMPER    STICKER   MAKER  37.45 

BUREAUCRACY  17.47 

BUTCHER    2.0  IS. 13 

BUTTON   AND   BADGE   MAKER  31.91 

EAR  116.75 

C.A.P.E.     SSI    ASSEMBLER  51.47 

nn  pasts  raM  introcad  if .50 

CALCULUS  36.13 

CALLISRAPHER  44.47 

CAMBRIDGE    LISP  124.95 

CAPITALIZATION    SERIES  It. 46 

CAPONE  25.96 

CASINO    FEVER  15.96 

CB    TREE   PLUS  64  .  95 

CELEBRITY    COOKBOOK,    THE  11.71 

CENTERFOLD    SQUARES  19.95 

CBK3SMASTEA    1000  32.40 

CHICKEN    LITTLE  19.41 

CITY    DESK  93.75 

CITY    DESK  ART  COMPANION  19.47 

CLEVER    6    SMART  22.72 

CLI    MATE  24.94 

CLIP    ART   SERIES    1-6  11. 93 

COMICS    OH    DISK  12.  H 

COMPUTER   BASEBALL  27,47 

CRAPS    ACADEMY  15.95 

CRAZY    CARS  25.14 

CRIHSOH    CROWN  12.17 

CROSSWORD    CREATOR  34.34 

CRYSTAL   HAMMER  12.96 

CUBEMASTER  22.71 

CUSTOMS    SCREENS  41.73 

CTCHIM   O  PROrTtilOHAL  44.97 

DARK   CASTLE  25.15 

DATA    RETRIEVE  41.15 

DEATH    SWORD  16.95 

DECIMAL    DUNGEON  31.23 


DEEP    SPACE  17.15 

DETCOH    5  25.95 

DEFENDER    OF   THE   CROWN  34.34 

DBJA   VU  34,34 

DELUXE    HELP    CALLICRAPHER  22.71 

DELUXE    HELP    FOR   DIGIPAINT  21,14 

DELUXE    HELP    FOR   DPAINT    II  21.14 
DELUXE    HELP    FOR   PHOTON    PAINT         11.14 

DELUXE    HAPS  16.22 

DELUXE    MUSIC  69.93 

DELUXE    PAINT    II  It,  »5 

DLLOXI   PBOTO  US  It. IS 

DELUXE    PRINT    +   ART   DISK  72. GO 

DELUXE    PRINT  ART   DISK    42  11.60 

DELUXE    PRODUCTIONS  139.13 

DELUXE    VIDEO   1,2  11.15 

DEMONSTRATOR.    THE  21.15 

DES    CARTES  22.71 

DESKTOP    ARTIST  11.73 

DESTROYER  23.26 

DIABLO  23.36 

DIGI-DROID  69.95 

DIGI-PAIHT  41.22 

DIGT-VIXW   3.0  14U.I1 

DIEI-VIEW    3.0    UPGRADE    DISK  13.95 

DIRECTOR,     THE  45,47 

DISCOVERY    EXPANSION    DISKS  12.97 

DISCOVERY    GAME   DISK  23.00 

DISCRETE    MATHEMATICS  36.22 

DISK    MECHANIC,     THE  5  8.50 

DISK    PRO   PLUS  11.75 

DISK  TO  DISK  34.34 

DISK   WICK  33.44 

DISKHASTER  17.40 

DOCTOR    TERN   PROFESSIONAL  74.01 

DOMINOES  1C.13 

DONALD    DUCK'S   PLAYGROUND  11.00 

DOS    TO   DOS  37.42 

DOUG'S    MATH  AQUARIUM  51.46 

DPAIKT   ARTIUTIL.    DISK    41  21.60 

T'S   BACH   SONGBOOK  11.95 
DR.    T'S   CAGED  ARTIST   EDITORS           CALL 

DR.    T'S    DRUMS  11.15 

DR.    T'S    KCS    l.GA  161.91 

DR.    T'S    KEYS  19.93 
DR.  T'S   MIDI   RJSCORDINO  1TDDJO         4 3. 10 

DR.    XES  34,34 

DRAW    PLUS    IAECIS)  161.41 

DRUM   STUDIO  31.47 

DYNAMIC    DRUMS  41.11 

DZKUtTC  JTDDIO  1.0  Ml    it 

DYMAH1C-CAD  340.31 

EARL   WEAVER   BASEBALL  34.95 


We  carry  over  1000  products.  Call  for  unlisted  items. 


EASY    LOANS 

25.00 

EBCN    STAR 

25.96 

EMERALD    MINES 

13.97 

EMPIRE 

34,32 

ENCHANTER 

20,59 

ENLIGHTENMENT 

15.95 

EUROPEAN    SCENERY    DISK 

17.95 

EXCELLENCE! 

115.00 

EXPRESS    PAINT 

62.50 

EXTEND 

25.96 

FACT    II 

21.15 

FAERY    TALE  ADVENTURE 

31.23 

FANCY    3D    FONTS 

46.90 

FERRARI    FORMULA   ONE 

33.57 

FEUD 

12.96 

FINAL    TRIP 

19.46 

FINANCIAL    COOKBOOK 

13.97 

FTNX   PRINT 

ll.it 

FIRE    N    FORGET 

25.96 

FIREPOWER 

13.60 

FIRST    LETTERS    i    WORDS 

33.00 

FIRST    SHAPES 

33.00 

FLEET    CHECK 

25.96 

FLIGHT    PATH    737 

16.11 

FLIGHT    SIMULATOR    II 

37.46 

FLIP    FLOP 

9.75 

FLOW 

62.32 

FONTS    AND    BORDERS 

22.71 

FOOTMAN 

11.95 

JTOJUiS    IN  rLIOBT   11 

79.50 

FORMULA   ONE  AMIGA 

19.46 

FOUR    IN  ONE 

11. "61 

TRACTION    ACTION 

31.23 

FROST    BYTE 

19.46 

GALACTIC    INVASION 

16.12 

GALAXY    FIGHT 

16.13 

GALILEO    2.0 

49.95 

GAME    PLAY   COMPACT   DISK 

12.95 

CANYHED 

11.95 

GARRISON 

29.19 

GARRISON    11 

35,71 

GEE    BEE   AIR   RALLY 

21.15 

GEOMETRIC    LIBRARY 

11.11 

GETTYSBURG 

31.95 

GIEHOE    2.0 

39.93 

GLOBAL    COMMANDER 

27.46 

GOLD    DISK   FONT    SET    ll 

21.15 

GOLD    SPELL 

21.10 

GOLD    SPELL    II 

29.95 

GOLDEN    PATH 

19.21 

GOLDEN    PYRAMID    (CAMESHOWj 

24.03 

GOLDRUNHER 

1J.91 

GOHF 

11.71 

GRABBIT 

!!.!! 

HATH    TALK 

31.25 

GRAND    3 LAM    TENNIS 

31.15 

HATH    TALK    FRACTIONS 

24.95 

CHEAT    STATES 

24.  9» 

HATH    WI1ARD 

31.23 

GREAT    STATU    II 

25.94 

HATH-AKATIOH 

64.95 

CHID,     THE 

34.31 

MAVIS    BEACON   TYPING 

30.19 

aXIDIStOH-rOOTBALL    CAKE 

r.ts 

KAXIPLAN    500 

•3.13 

GUILD    OF   TKIGVES 

33.90 

KAXIPLAN    PLUS 

124.40 

GUNSHOOT 

22.72 

MIAN    It    COURSE    DISK 

14.96 

KACKER    II 

rt.*t 

MEAN    It    GOLF 

29.71 

HA1CALC 

30.90 

METACOHCO    ASSEMBLER 

69.72 

HARDBALL 

21.12 

KITACOMCO    PASCAL 

69.72 

HARRIER    COMBAT   SIMULATOR 

32.95 

METACOHCO    SHELL 

39.93 

HARRIER    MISSION 

li.21 

METACOHCO    TOOLKIT 

34.34 

HEAD    COACH 

32.47 

HETASCOPE    DEBUGGER 

39.93 

HEX 

24.95 

MICROFICHE    FILER 

69.95 

HITCHIKER5    GUIDE 

10.59 

MICRO LAWYER 

37.47 

HOLLYWOOD    HIJIHX 

17.41 

HIKE    THE   MACIC   DRACOH 

16.95 

HOLLYWOOD    POKER 

23.96 

HIND      WALKER 

34.34 

HOME    BUILDERS    CAD 

129.9* 

HIND    FOREVER 

27.47 

HOT    t    COOL   JA11 

21.<0 

MISSION    ELEVATOR 

34.95 

HOT    LICKS 

27.39 

MODULA-2    DEVELOPER 

103.09 

HUNT    FOR   RED   OCTOBER 

27.46 

HODULA-2    REGULAR 

61.12 

IMPOSSIBLE   HISSIOH  It 

31.41 

HOEBIUS 

39.93 

INDOOR    SPORTS 

31.22 

HONEY    HENTOR   C   VERSION 

39.91 

INOVATOOL3    I 

51.96 

MOONHIST 

21.47 

INSANITY    FICHT 

25.96 

KULTI -FORTH 

59.95 

INSTANT    MUSIC    1.2 

33.00 

MULTI-PRErS 

19.45 

INTEtilTYPK 

33.17 

MUSIC    HOUSE 

51.33 

INTERCEPTOR 

J7.M 

MUSIC    STUDENT 

37.49 

INTERCHANGE 

2  9.21 

NEWSLETTER    FONTS    COLOR 

29.95 

IHTERCHANGE    CONVERSION 

16.95 

NIMBUS    1: RECORD    KEEPER 

93.10 

IHTERCHANGE    OBJECTS    11 

16.95 

NINJA   MISSION 

13.00 

IHTO    THE    EAGLE'S    HEST 

21.56 

OBLITERATOR 

15.99 

IHTROCAD 

49.95 

aretMORt  warrior 

11.  ft 

INVESTOR'S    ADVANTAGE 

64.97 

MM 

32.46 

ihyisioh  rtrvxv  e/txcts; 

JP.93 

OMEGA    FILE 

54.99 

IT'S    ONLY   ROCK    t    ROLL 

21,60 

ONLINE    2.0 

43.56 

J    FORTH 

69.74 

ORGANISE 

62.32 

JET 

31.46 

OUTLINE 

31.25 

JET    SET   fOHT   SET 

32.50 

PACT,    FLIPPER  FLOS  T/X 

S9.95 

JIHXTER 

25.95 

PACESETTER 

93.72 

KAMPFCRUFPE 

41.22 

PALADIN 

25.95 

KARA    rotiTS 

54.95 

PAHN,     THE 

30.90 

KARATE    KID    II 

2  5.97 

PERFECT    SCORE    (SAT   PROGRAMI 

54 .  97 

KARATE    KING 

15.56 

FHAHTASIB 

27.47 

KEY    TO   C 

21.72 

PHAHTASIE    3 

24.95 

KICKNCPJ! 

19.46 

PHA3AR    3.0    -    FIN'L  HGKT 

61.49 

KIDTALK 

31.95 

PIOTOH   PAINT 

I4.it 

KINDERAHA 

31.13 

PHOTON    PAIHT    EXPANSION    DISK 

19.95 

KINDMORDS 

CI.  SO 

PHOTOS  YKTKESIS 

97.95 

RING   OF   CHICAGO 

34.34 

PINBALL    I.O. 

19.46 

KING'S    QUEST    I, II. Ill 

31.95 

PINK    PANTHER 

29.56 

KNIGHT    ORC 

30.90 

PIXMATE 

43.47 

KM  IK    SPEAK 

29.04 

PIANET    PROBE 

19.46 

LATTICE    C    4,0 

162.47 

PLUTOS 

19.46 

LATTICE    C    PROFFESIOHAL 

212.41 

PORTAL-ADVENTURE    CAKE 

14,35 

LAJERSCRIPT 

29.10 

PORTS    OF   CALL 

19.71 

LDEBUG    LATTICE  DEBUGGER 

15.00 

POWER    PACK 

22.95 

LEADER    BOARD   TORNA   DISK 

14.00 

PONERMINDONS    2.0 

62.46 

LEADER    BOARD -GOLF    GAME 

27.00 

PRE    CALCULUS 

16.33 

LEARNING    THE  ALPHABET 

19. 4C 

PRINTHASTER    PLUS 

11.21 

LEATHER    GODESSES 

27.47 

PRISM   PLUS 

45.41 

LEATHERNECK 

23.96 

PRO   MIDI    STUDIO 

110.39 

LEISURE    SUIT    LARRY 

26.40 

PRO   VIDEO  FOHT   SET    11 

72.00 

LEKCHECK 

26.95 

PRO   VIDEO  FONT    SET    11 

12.00 

LIBYANS    1H   SPACE 

19.97 

PRO   VIDEO  PLUS 

114.95 

LIFE    CYCLES    AMIGA 

19.46 

PROBABILITY    THEORY 

36,22 

LIGBTS!    CAMERA.'   ACTION' 

<».»i 

PROFESSIONAL    PAGE    1.1 

241.50 

LINKHORD    LANGUAGE   SERIES 

20.55 

PROJECT    D 

11.21 

LINT     (GIMPLE) 

63.70 

PROHISE:SPELLIHC    CHECKER 

14.36 

LION'S    AMIGA  ART   STUDIO 

59.95 

PROMBITE    2.0 

79,10 

LISP    1.3 -BY   METACOHCO 

131.41 

PUBLISHER    PLUS 

124.98 

LITTLE    DRAGON 

12.96 

PUNCTUATION    SERIES 

19.46 

LITTLE    RED   HEN 

19.41 

PUPPY    LOVE 

11.61 

LOGIC    WORKS 

62.47 

Q-BALL 

21.41 

LOTTERY    MACIC 

19.21 

QUARTERBACK 

43.47 

LURKING    HORROR 

25.96 

QUESTRON    II 

32.46 

HACROMODEH 

46.10 

QUICK    MERGE 

37.95 

HAD    LIBS 

12.41 

QUINTETTES 

30.90 

MAGICAL   MYTHS 

31.47 

QU1E    MASTER 

49.99 

MAGICIAN'S    DUNGEON 

21.94 

QUIEAM 

21.10 

MAJOR    MOTION' 

IS.tt 

R.R.    AESOP'S    FABLES 

19.49 

MARAUDER    I I -DUPLICATION 

27.41 

RAN    COPT    1.1 

39.91 

MARBLE    MADNESS 

33.00 

READ    1    RHYME 

31.23 

MASTER    TYPE 

21.47 

READ-A-RAHA 

11.21 

MASTERING    CL1 

23.96 

REALM    OF    TBI    KARLCOC 

11,74 

MATCH    II 

23.71 

REASON :ATlT    WRITERS    «  .  3 

211.56 

MATH    MAGICIAN 

17.49 

RETURN    TO   ATLANTIS 

14.12 

ROAD    TO  MOSCC4I  29.97 

RCADKAR    2000  27.47 

ROADWAR    EL'ROPA  29.21 

ROAOWARS  21.95 

ROCKET   HANGXH  3f.4nf 

ROCKTORD  11.95 

R0LOBA3E    PLUS  59.46 

ROMANTIC    ENCOUNTER  15.95 

SAF    T   NIT   KD    BACKUP  12.46 

SANTA    PARAVIA    t    FIUMACCIO  19.46 

SARGON    III  15.75 
SCENERY    DISK    til    EAST   COAST           It.  72 

SCENERY    DISK    #7    EAST    COAST  It. 71 

SCRIBBLE  62.32 

SCULPT-3D  69.95 

SDI:CINAKANARE    SERIES  34.14 

SEASONS    AND   HOLIDAYS  21.60 

SECONDS    OUT   BOXING  19.46 

sec  vtxdw  ntcm  space  is.it 

SHADOW    GATE  31.13 

UAjQUPXUE    1.1  144-1$ 

SHANGHAI-STRATEGY    GAME  27.46 

SHERLOCK  27.00 

SILENT    SERVICE  25.95 

3INBAD    4    FALCON  34.14 

SLAYGON  25.96 

SMOOTH    TALKER  33.95 

SOCIAL    STUDIES  19.46 

SOFTWOOD    FILE   9G  79.21 

SOFTWOOD    WRITER  62.4  9 

SOHIX     IAEGI3I  49.99 

SOUHDLAB    HIRAGE  209.95 
SOUHDQUEST    EDITOR/LIBRARIANS         91.22 

SOUNDSCAPE    UTILITIES    1  35.71 

SOURCE    LEVEL   DEBUGGER  51.16 

SPACE    FLIGHT  19.46 

SPACE    HATH  29.95 

SPACE    PORT  27.39 

SPACE    RANGER  11.00 

SFACEQUEST  31.00 

SPELLBOUND  25.96 

SPELLER    BEE  31.15 

SPELLING    IMPROVEMENT  19.95 

STARFLEET    I  29.95 

STARGLIDER  29.50 

STARGLIDER    II  29.50 

STATION    FALL  27.47 

STELLAR    CONFLICT  25.95 

STOCK   HARKET-THE   GAME  16.11 

STRIP    POKER  21.46 

STRIP    POKER   DATA   44    OR    45  12.97 

STUDIO   FONTS   VI    (COLOR)  29.95 

STUDIO    MAGIC  64.95 

SUB    BATTLE  24.95 

SUPER    HUEY-COPTER   CAKE  23.16 

SUPERBASZ  93.71 

SUPERBASE    PROFESSIONAL  195.00 

SURGEON.     THE  11.21 

SYMPHONY    SONGS    (EACH   VOL)  15.95 

SYltTHIA  59.95 

SYSTEMS    MONITOR  21.95 

TIL   GALLERY  9.95 

TALES    FROM  ARABIAN    NIGHTS  11.95 

TALKING    COLORING  BOOK  11.71 

TANGLE    MOOD  15.96 

TELEGAMES  13-95 

TELEWARS  24.97 

TERRORPODS  25.77 

TEST    DRIVE  14.95 

TEXTPRO  49.95 

THAI    BOXING  14.26 

THE    EXPLORER  12.47 

THEXDER  23.95 

THREE    LITTLE   PIGS  19.41 

THREE    STOOGES  35,95 

THUHDERBOY  22.11 

TIME    BANDITS  22.09 

TOOL    CADDY  32.46 

TRANSCONTINENTAL   RAILROAD  25.96 

TRIGONOMETRY  36.22 

TRINITY  27.41 

TRUE    BASIC  61.72 

TURBO  16.95 

TURBO    SILVER  129.95 

TURBO    SILVER   UPGRADE  19.95 

TV    SHOW  65.01 

TV    TEXT  62.12 

TXED    PLUS  51.95 


ULTIMA    III  21.51 

ULTRA    DO*  11.95 

UNCLE    D    CON    SOUND   TRATION  25.91 

UNINVITED  34.14 

VAMPIRE'S    EMPIRE  29.11 

VIDEO    EFFECTS    ID  129,96 

VIDEO    VEGAS  24.10 

VIDIOSCAPI    3D  114.91 

VIDEOTITLXR  99.95 

VIRUS    IVTCCTIOM    PROTECTION  31.  4  f 

VIEAWXITE  91.75 

VOCABULARY    IMPROVEMENT  19.95 

VYPER  11.95 

W    SHELL  31.16 

WBEXTRA9  24 . 95 

WESTERN    CAKES  31.95 

WINDOW    PRINT    II  22.15 

WINNIE    THE   POOH  16.50 

WINTER    CHALLENGE  9.95 

WINTER    CAKES  21.46 

WORD   MASTER  29.95 

WORD    PERFECT  219.00 

WORD    PERFECT    LIBRARY  14.50 

WORKS.    THE  124.91 

WORLD    GAKES  21.46 

WRITE    'H'    FILE  59.95 

X-CAD  399.00 

1INC  49.91 

1ING    KEYS  31.15 

(INGI    SPELL  57.95 

ICON  21.95 

EORK    TRILOGY  41.10 

ZUMA    FONTS   VOL    1,2,1  21.45 


MfflW^ 


ALEGRA    WITH    OK 

ALPS    ALQ224B    COLOR   PRINTER 

AMIGA    2052    2    KEG   RAH   CARD 

AMIGA    LIVE! 

AMIGA    LIVE!    500 

AHIGEN    GENLOCK 

ASDC    I    KEG   BOARDS    W/OK 

BYTE    BOX    OK-RAH   OPTIONAL 

C    LTD    SJ  MR   AJ  OOO    ED 

C  LTD   50   tOB  MD 

C    LTD    512X   UNPOPULATED 

C    LTD    SCSI    CHTRLR   A1000 

CA-ltO    FLOPPY   DRIVE 

CPS    500-POWER   SUPPLY   A500 

EASYL    TABLETS     (ALL  AHIGAS) 

ECE    MIDI    500/    2000 

ESCORT    3    UNPOPOZJLTLD 

ESCORT    500   UNPOPULATED 

EXP-1000    1H  A500 

EXP-1000    1H  UNPOPULATED 

FTJCKXR    FIXER    (RAADMAREJ 

FUTURE    SOUND-AUDIOSAKPLER 

IMPACT    20   MEG   SARD   CARD 

Dtp  ACT    41  NEC  SARD   CARD 

IMPACT    SC3I/1M   OK   RAM 

IMPACT    SCSI/2H    OX   RAM 

MICRON    2   MEG    FOR   A2000 

MIDI    GOLD 

H1MI3CRISE  20MB  3.5"  FAST 

NEC  P2200  PRINTER 

NEC  P5200  24  PIN  PRINTER 

OKIHATE  20/PLUG  N  PRINT 

OVERDRIVE  HD  CONTROLLER 

PANASONIC  WV1410  CAMERA 

PERFECT  SOUND  DIGITIIER 

PERFECT  VISION 

SOUND  SAMPLER 

SPIRIT  0  KB  FOR  A1000 

SPIRIT  0  MB  FOR  A500 

STAR  NB24-10 

STAR  NX1000  PRINTER 

STAR  NX1000  RAINBOW 

STARBOARD  2  PRODUCTS 

SUBSYSTEM  500 

SUPERGEN 

SUPRA  3400  HOOEH 

SUPRA  DRIVE  20KB  A5004A1000 

SUPRA  DRIVE  10HB  A5004A1000 

VI  2000  RF 

XEROX  4020  INK  JET  COLOR 

XEROX  4020  STARTER  KIT 


166,95 
599.00 
449.00 
210.00 
119.00 
119.95 
CALL 
249.00 
m  oo 
993.00 

49.95 
119.95 
199.00 

14.97 
369.00 

41.71 
24P.O0 
299.00 
479.95 
219.95 
471.00 
142,20 
541.00 
711.00 
299.00 
319.00 
549.00 

64.20 
329.00 
411.15 
CALL 
199.00 
199.95 
224.96 

61.41 
169.95 

•  6.63 
249.00 
149.00 
54  5.96 
199.00 
179.95 
CALL 
199.95 
699.00 
152.49 
699.00 
■39.00 

79.95 

1140.00 

156.00 


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Photon  Paint  2.0.  still  under  devel- 
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Circle  #152  on  Reader  Service  Card 

CLASSIC  ILLUSTRATED 

Jumpdisk's  illustrated  Amiga  version 
of  "The  Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow"  in- 
cludes the  full  text  of  the  story,  an  in- 
terface for  screen  display,  printing,  and 
speech,  and  10  original  illustrations, 
plus  a  talking  slide  show  program  and 
a  tutorial  on  using  it  in  other  applica- 
tions. A  version  of  UA  Christmas  Car- 
ol" is  planned  for  December  release. 
Price  is  $4.00,  or  $525  Canadian,  or 
US  $5.75  to  be  airmailed  elsewhere. 

Jumpdisk.  916-343-7658  (see  address 
list,  page  22). 

Circle  #153  on  Reader  Service  Card 

2ND  SPOC  DISK 

Along  with  their  disk  of  over  30 
games,  puzzles,  educational  programs, 
and  more,  S.P.O.C,  now  includes 
SPOCPD,  a  collection  of  Amiga  public 
domain  programs,  all  of  them  reworked 
to  insure  that  they  run  properly.  The 
price  remains  $25.00. 

S.P.O.C,  918-432-5774  (see  address 
list,  page  22). 

Circle  #154  on  Reader  Service  Card 

DONT  LOOK  BACK 

Micron  Technology  has  stopped  ac- 
cepting orders  for  Amiga  500  and  1000 
memory  expansion  chassis.  From  here 
on,  they  will  produce  memory  expan- 
sion products  for  the  Amiga  2000  only. 

Micron  Technology  Inc.,  208-383- 
4000  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #155  on  Reader  Service  Card 

MOUSE  MASTERY 

The  Mouse  Master  switchbox 
($39.95)  eliminates  the  need  to  swap 
mouse  and  joystick  cables.  The  unit, 
which  plugs  into  both  of  the  Amiga's 
mouse/joystick  ports,  provides  three 
separate  switch-selectable  ports  for  the 
mouse  and  joysticks.  A  26"  cable  ena- 
bles users  to  position  the  controller  in 
a  comfortable  location. 

Practical  Solutions,  602-884-9612 
(see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  "181  on  Reader  Service  Card 

Circle  #203  on  Reader  Service  Card    -» 


DR.  OXIDE  SLICES  PRICES! 


Comp-U-Save's  cost-cutting  clinician  is  at  it 
again!  This  month  Dr.  Oxide,  a  bargain-basement 
surgeon  if  ever  there  was  one,  offers  the  indus- 
try's lowest  prices  on  hardware  and  software,  plus 
special  deals  on  products  available  only  through 
Comp-U-Save! 

Buying  from  just  any  mail  order  house  can  be 
hazardous  to  your  fiscal  health.  Let  Dr.  Oxide  cut 
you  in  on  these  super  Comp-U-Save  sales! 


AMIGA  DEVELOPER'S  KIT 

We  bought  Commodore's  entire  inventory-only  100  left!  Documentation  for 
the  entire  Amiga  system— hardware,  software,  and  all  programming  tools  for 
C  or  assembler.  Includes  Lattice  C,  Assembler  by  Metacomco,  2  volume  ROM 
Kernal  manual  (totaling  1200  pages),  AmigaDOS  technical  reference  manual, 
AmigaDOS  developer's  manual,  AmigaDOS  user's  manual,  hardware  manual, 
Intuition  manual,  Updates  and  Errata  package  containing  symbolic  debugger 
and  WACK,  cross  compiler  for  C,  assembler  for  IBM  or  Sun  Microsystems. 
Version  1.1,  not  1.2,  but  it  all  runs  under  the  1.2  operating  system. 

Total  value  close  to  $500! 
Our  price  —  $74.99! 


BUSEXPANDER  FROM  BILLS  BOARDS 

The  only  board  for  the  Amiga  500  or  1000  that  expands  either 
machine  to  12  slots!  Fits  in  any  baby  AT  case  and  provides 
6  slots  for  the  2000,  6  for  the  PC  (4  of  those  for  the  AT).  Now 
you  can  use  most  of  the  expansion  cards  designed  for  the 
2000- hard  disk  controllers,  2/4/8  meg  RAM  cards,  A2088 
Bridgeboard,  etc.  Use  low  cost  IBM-compatible  expansion 
cards  already  supporting  a  wide  range  of  business  and  scienti- 
fic applications.  Designed  to  work  with  auto  configurable  cards. 
Meets  ZorroBus  and  Amiga  2000  Bus  electrical  specifications, 
Available  exclusively  through  Comp-U-Save! 

12  Slots  for  your  500/1000! 
Price:  $495 


Amiga  Hard  Drives  500  -  1000  -  2000 

20  Meg-S585.00     32Meg-S699.99     48  Meg-S799.99 

Amiga  Dual  Drive  500  -  1000  -  2000 

With  Own  Power  Supply-$399,00 

Amiga  External  Drive  $137.99 

Only  Uses  Half  the  Power  of  1010-with  Pass  Thru 
Disk  Drive  &  Monitor  Extension  Cables  30  —  S19.99 

Panasonic  WV1410  Video  Cameras 

For  Digitizers— S204.99 
16MM  Lens-S29.99 

Special  2400  Baud  Modem -$154.00 

AMIGA  PUBLIC  DOMAIN 

OVER  600  DISKS! 

Largest  Amiga  PD  Library  in  the  World 

also  C-64  &  C-128— Write  for  Free  Catalogue 

Amiga  PD-S4.00  each 


*  Trackball,..,..... $45.00 

*  Plastic  Diskbank  (Holds  120  3.5  in.  Disks) S16.99 

*  Copy  Arm  (Heavy  Duty) S29.99 

*  Mouse  Mat  (Fabric) $  5.00 

*  Mouse  Mat  (Teflon) $11.00 

*  Gender  Changers— All  Types Call 

*  Static  Mat  (23.5  X  25.5  in.) $24.00 

*  Rapid  Fire  Joysticks $12.00 

*  Printer  Buffer  (32K-512K) , Call 

*  RF  Modulator $14.99 

*  A/B  Switch  (Ser.) $13.99 

*  A/B  Switch  (Par.) $14.99 

*  A/B/D/E  Swtich $29.99 

*  Crossover  Box $39.99 

*  Cables  500-1000-2000 Call 

*  Teak  Diskbank  (holds  150  3.5  in.  disks) $39.99 

*  Teak  Diskbank  (holds  200  5.25  in.  disks) $39.99 

*  The  Library  (holds  80  3.5  in.  disks) $19.99 

*  Floppy  Wallels  (Many  Sizes) .Call 

*  3.5  in.  DS/DD  Disks  (Bulk) $1.10  ea. 

*  5.25  in.  DS/DD  Disks  (Bulk)... $.39  ea. 

*  Books-All  Titles  20%  Off Call 

*  Memory  512K-4  Megs Call 

TONS  OF  AMIGA  SOFTWARE! 


Come  See  Dr.  Oxide  in  Our  Booth  At  All 
AmiEXPO  &  World  of  Commodore  Shows! 

Comp-U-Save 

410  Maple  Avenue 

Westbury,  NY  11590 

In  NY  State  (516)  997-6707  (Tech  Support) 

Outside  NY  State 

(800)  356-9997  (Orders  Only) 

Fax  (516)  334-3091 


□  =  mews  a  c 


NEW  VIZAWRITE 

Progressive  is  offering  the  new  Ver- 
sion 1.09  of  Vizawrite  Desktop  at  a  47  % 
price  reduction:  S79.95,  compared  to 
$149.95  for  the  previous  version.  Addi- 
tionally, the  upgrade  features  fester  text/ 
screen  handling,  final  adjustments  to 
some  bug  problems,  and  better  print- 
er support,  including  a  user  profile  for 
customized  printers  and  allowance  for 
printer  selection  through  Preferences. 

Progressive  Peripherals  &  Software, 
303-825-4144  (see  address  list,  page 
22). 

Circle  #176  on  Header  Service  Card 

3-D  MODELING 

Aegis'  Modeler  3D  ($99.95)  lets  the 
user  generate  anything  from  simple 
3-D  geometric  shapes  to  complex, 
mathematically  accurate  objects  in  a 
CADlike  environment.  Objects  created 
can  be  loaded  into  the  Aegis  Video- 
Scape  3D  animation  system  and  man- 
ipulated as  part  of  an  animation  se- 
quence. Simple  shapes  like  spheres  and 
boxes  are  available  from  pulldown 
menus.  Additionally,  drawings  created 
with  Aegis  Draw,  Aegis  Draw  Plus,  or 
Aegis  Draw  2000  can  be  loaded  into 


LOTTO 

WITH  YOUR  HOME  COMPUTER.' 


Use  your  home  computer  and  Soft- 
Byte's  amazing  new  "Lotto  Program"  to 
get  more  winning  tickets. 

In  just  seconds  this  software  analyzes 
past  winners  and  produces  a  powerful 
probability  study  on  easy-to-read  charts. 
With  a  single  press  of  a  key,  you'll  see 
trends,  patterns,  odds/evens,  sum  totals, 
number  frequencies,  and  much  more.  It 
also  includes  automatic  number  wheeling, 
instant  updating,  and  a  built-in  tutorial. 
Ask  your  software  dealer. 

AMIGA  ALL  MODELS.. .$29. 95 
IBM,  C64,  APPLE $24.95 

Add  $2.00  shipping  and  handling.  Credit  card 
orders  approved  by  phone  and  shipped  same  day. 

Make  checks  payable  lo  SOFT-BYTE  and  mail  lo: 

P.O.  Box  556  Forest  Park 
Dayton,  Ohio  45405 


513 
of*  2781110 

Byte 


Circle  #214  on  Reader  Service  Card 

14     Ahayl's  AmigaUser 


Modeler  3D  and  turned  three-dimen- 
sional with  a  single  command.  It  can 
then  be  treated  as  any  other  object, 
adding  points,  polygons,  and  different 
types  of  colors  and  shading,  loaded  into 
Aegis  VideoScape  3D,  and  animated. 
1  meg  of  RAM  and  at  least  one  disk 
drive  are  required. 

Aegis  Development  Inc.,  213-392- 
9972  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #177  on  Render  Service  Cord 

MUSIC  COPYING 

Copyist  DTP  (S399)  permits  the  mu- 
sician to  score-edit  and  transcribe  his 
compositions  with  the  aid  of  pulldown 
menus  and  windows.  A  complete  range 
of  musical  symbols  is  provided;  or,  you 
can  create  your  own.  The  program 
transcribes  treble,  bass,  alto,  and  per- 
cussion clefs,  and  will  allow  you  to 
convert  any  of  the  supported  formats 
to  any  other.  Beams  can  be  slanted  or 
horizontal;  smooth  slurs,  ties,  and  dy- 
namics are  supported,  even  on  dot  ma- 
trix printers;  and  there  is  4-point  ad- 
justment of  slur  curvature,  direction, 
and  height.  Cut,  Copy,  Paste,  Move, 
and  Delete  functions  are  available; 
Quantize  options  include  timing  and 
duration  independently,  each  track  sep- 
arately, and  four  sections  of  individual 
tracks.  You  can  also  map  any  sequen- 
cer track  to  any  stave  and  print  indi- 
vidual parts,  transposed  for  each  player. 

Copyist  DTP  transcribes  the  popu- 
lar music  sequencers,  and  supports  all 
Postscript  printers,  HP  Laserjet  Plus, 
HP  plotters,  and  Epson  FX  and  HP 
Inkjet  compatible  dot  matrix  printers. 
Score  length  is  100  pages. 

Two  other  versions.  Copyist  Appren- 
tice and  Copyist,  are  available  for  S99 
and  $249  respectively. 

Dr.  T's  Music  Software,  617-244- 
6954  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #178  on  Reader  Service  Card 

ACCOUNTS  UPGRADABLE 

KFS's  1.2  Version  of  The  Accountant 
(S299.50)  adds  Inventory  and  an  inte- 
grated retail  Cash  Register  to  the  pack- 
age released  this  past  spring  (see  re- 
view in  the  May  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser). 
The  500- item  Iventory  sorts  by  vendors 
or  99  departments  with  a  10-character, 
alphanumeric  SKU  number,  and  will 
generate  single  or  automatic  purchase 
orders.  The  Cash  Register  program  al- 
lows store  owners  to  use  their  Amigas 
to  offer  percentage  discounts,  and  man- 


age layaways,  coupons,  and  other  func- 
tions. With  immediate  Inventory  updat- 
ing, the  Cash  Register  will  also  post 
Account  Receivable  Sales  during  regu- 
lar business  hours  without  exiting  the 
Register. 

Other  improvements  are  the  ability 
to  print  Financial  Statements  to  screen, 
or  to  disk  for  multitasking  with  other 
programs  like  word  processors  for  pro- 
ducing mailing  labels;  and  400%  fester 
Optimized  Sorts  and  Batch  Report 
Printing.  The  system  also  uses  1.3  Pref- 
erences and  Printer  Drivers. 

KFS  Software.  Inc.,  813-584-2355 
(see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #179  on  Reader  Service  Card 

ART  CONTEST 

The  first  annual  AmiEXPO  Art  and 
Video  Contest  will  be  judged  during 
AmiEXPO  New  York,  March  3-5, 
1989.  Contest  categories  and  grand 
prizes  are  as  follows: 

Two  Dimensional  Image:  A-Pro 
Draw  package  from  R  &  DL. 

Three  Dimensional  Image:  "Piggy- 
back" accelerator  from  Computer  Sys- 
tem Associates. 

Digitized  Image:  Perfect  Vision  dig- 
itizer from  SunRize  Industries. 

Animation:  20  meg  hard  drive  from 
Supra  Corporation. 

Mixed  Media  Video:  Live  from  A- 
Squared  and  Invision  from  Elan  Design. 

First,  second,  and  third  prize  win- 
ners will  receive  commemorative 
plaques  and  have  their  work  displayed 
during  AmiEXPO  New  York.  Contact 
Stephen  Jacobs  of  AmiEXPO  for  of- 
ficial rules  and  application  forms. 

AmiEXPO,  212-867-4663  (see 
address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #180  on  Reader  Service  Card 

GAMES 

Tracers  ($34.95)  requires  you  to 
guide  a  growing  "snake™  around  a  grid 
in  a  manner  that  will  force  your  oppo- 
nents to  crash. 

Microlllusions,  818-360-3715  (see 
address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #157  on  Reader  Service  Card 


Four  games  coming  from  Konami 
during  the  remainder  of  1988  and  1989: 

Ajax  engages  players  in  aerial  com- 
bat with  jet  fighters,  tanks,  helicopters, 
ships,  and  aircraft  carriers. 

Castlevania  pits  the  player  against 
ghosts,  goblins,  demons,  and  the  like, 


.HLE-  CLASSY. 


MODIFY-  RECALL. i 

kSEltOT  AND  SOW  j 

1HXT  AND  <?i 


And  Have  A  Ball ! 


So,  you  have  your  word  processing  and 

painting  programs... 

BUT... 

You're  tired  of  searching  through  stacks  of 
disks,  You've  had  it  with  sorting  those  lists  by 
hand.  You've  typed  that  mailing  label  for  the 
umpleenth  time.  What  a  mess! 

Now,  take  it  easy... 

The  designers  of  Microfiche  Filer,  the  most 
highly  regarded  database  in  Amiga  history, 

bring  you  Microfiche  Filer  PlusrM— the  easiest, 
the  fastest,  the  most  powerful,  and  the  most 
enjoyable  (yes,  enjoyable)  productivity  software 
you'll  ever  use! 


Microfiche  Filer  Plus™  is  ideal  for  organizing: 


Flies 

Hobbies 
Billing 
Pictures 


Collections 
Mailing  Lists 
Inventories 
Video  Storyboards 


and  More.. 


Store  Text  &  Pictures 

Simultaneously 

Print  in  Any 

Formal 

Store  4000  Color 

HAM  Pictures 


Sort  &  Search  • 
Instantly! 

Perform 
Calculations 
Write  Database 
Programs  Using  ARexx' 


Visit  your  Amiga  dealer  today  for  an  eye-opening,  revealing,  and  exciting  demonstration! 
For  your  nearest  dealer  call  1-800-527-7014.  In  MA  call  (SOS)  875-1238 


miGROHGHE 


•  ARexx  sold  separately         Suggested  Retail  s1 79. 


&£ 


PLU./ 


JUT 


Switch  Today:  Send  us  your  old  dalatase  program  and  get  s75  off  Microfiche  Filer  PlusTV 
Call  for  details. 


^=  |/Of  TUJflR£  WrOny  Irvc 

"  P.O.  Sox  3319.  Framingham.  MA  01701 


Circle  #137  on  Reader  Service  Card 


□  =^=  HEWS  %  C 


tfP 


from  A-Squared 
It's  HOT! 

...real-time  LIVE!  video  on  your 
Amiga's  screen. 

■ :  True  Color:  just  as  it  comes  from 
your  video  source:  camera,  VCR.  TV. 
laser  disk.  Direct,  moving,  in  your 
Amiga's  memory... our  patented  tech- 
nology. 

■ :   Fast:  video  images  in  black  & 
white,  32-coior,  and  4,096-coior 
HAM.  See  15  new  images  every 
second  in  black  &  white,  12  in  color, 
4  in  HAM. 

> :  Save:  moving  video,  play  it  back, 
use  it  in  other  programs.  Unlimited 
stills,  too. 

< :  Video  Effects:  real-time  mouse- 
controlled. ..posterization,  fades 
color-keying,  strobe,  more. 

i ;  Roll  Your  Own:  programmer's 
video  library,  hardware  documenta- 
tion, examples  in  C,  basic. 

>;  NEW  UVEI2000  includes:  Dual 
video  source  switching  with  fade/ 
wipe/dissolve:  BNC  connectors  on 
all  input:  Selectable  Composite  or 
direct  RGB  input:  640  Resolution: 
Advanced  video  effects  —  Tiling. 
Mirroring.  Keyhole  paint. 

LIVEI2000.  S450  sug.  list 
LIVEIIOOO.  $295  sug.  list 
LIVEI500.  $399  sug.  list 

See  your  Amiga  Dealer. 

For  more  information,  contact: 


a2 


A-Squared  Distributions  Inc. 

6114  La  Salle  Ave.,  Suite  326 

Oakland.  CA  94611 

(415)  339-0339 


Circle  #212  on  Reader  Service  Card 


culminating  in  a  face  to  face  battle  with 
Count  Dracula. 

Metal  Gear  requires  players  to  steel 
their  nerves  for  a  clash  with  Vermin 
CaTaffy,  whose  weapon  of  destruction 
endangers  the  world. 

Teenage  Mutant  Ninja  Turtles  teams 
players  with  the  amphibious  "heroes  in 
the  half  shell"  of  comic  book  fame  to 
fight  off  the  evil  Foot  Clan  in  the  sew- 
ers of  New  York. 

Konami  Inc.,  312-595-1443  (see  ad- 
dress list,  page  22). 

Circle  *182  on  Reader  Servlre  Card 

Three  from  Discovery: 

Hybris  (S39.95)  offers  a  twist  in  al- 
lowing the  player  to  assume  the  role 
of  either  a  male  or  female  fighter  pilot 
(though  the  actual  gameplay  is  no  dif- 
ferent in  either  role).  In  the  year  2461 
A.D.,  your  mission  is  to  reestablish 
communications  with  an  earth  colony 
stranded  on  the  faraway  planet  Jurica. 
Aboard  a  scouting  ship,  you  must  de- 
stroy special  targets  to  attain  added  di- 
mensions (extra  fire  power,  extra  mis- 
siles, invincible  mode,  etc.).  The 
stronger  the  ship  (11  different  levels  of 
strength  are  attainable),  the  greater 
your  chance  to  make  it  to  your  confron- 


tation with  the  ultimate  alien  menace. 
Each  of  the  game's  long-playing  levels 
scroll  approximately  8  minutes,  for  a 
total  of  over  25  minutes  of  play  against 
backgrounds  of  desert  plains,  jagged 
mountains,  and  seas,  with  aliens  firing 
from  hidden  and  apparent  stations.  A 
Change  Options  mode  lets  you  control 
the  number  of  attacking  ships,  enemy 
bullet  speed,  and  other  factors. 

Sword  ofSodan  ($49.95)  also  offers 
a  choice  of  sex.  As  Sodan  or  his  twin 
sister  Sodanna,  you  attempt  to  save 
your  parents,  trapped  inside  the  castle 
Cragganmoor.  On  your  way  to  the  cas- 
tle walls  you  must  travel  through  for- 
ests, graveyards,  and  city  streets  full  of 
wizards,  guards,  and  other  villains.  The 
animated  characters  stand  almost  %  the 
height  of  the  screen,  making  combat 
easy  to  follow.  But  if  you  miss  some- 
thing, a  replay  mode  will  let  you  study 
your  most  recent  performance.  The 
game  consists  of  over  four  megabytes 
of  memory  on  three  disks. 

Acquired  from  British-based  Elec- 
tra  Software,  Better  Dead  Than  Alien 
($34.95)  is  a  humorous  space  shoot- 
em-up  casting  the  player  as  galactic 
hero  Brad  Zoom,  He  must  battle  end- 


16     Ahoy  I 's  AmigaUser 


E^=MEWS  If] 


less  waves  of  slithering  and  crawling 
aliens,  some  easily  destroyed,  some  far 
more  dangerous  and  deadly.  A  simul- 
taneous two-player  mode  is  included. 
Discovery  Software,  301-268-9877 
(see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #183  on  Reader  Service  Card 

Wiw  Framed  Roger  Rabbit  attempts 
to  recreate  the  humor  and  adventure  of 
the  film.  While  trying  to  stop  Judge 
Doom  from  destroying  Toontown, 
players  must  race  Benny  the  Cab 
through  the  streets  of  Tinseltown,  re- 
trieve the  missing  will  at  the  Ink  and 
Paint  Club,  and  use  gags  to  get  past  the 
evil  weasels  at  the  Gag  Factory.  Play- 
ers keep  track  of  their  progress  with 
an  onscreen  map,  and  receive  anima- 
ted prizes  from  characters  like  Jessica 
Rabbit  via  a  series  of  reward  screens. 
A  Quick  Start  Card  for  easy  beginning 
play  and  a  full-color  poster  are  included. 

Buena  Vista  Software,  818-569-7397 
(see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #196  on  Reader  Service  Card 

Scheduled  for  January  release,  Hea- 
vy Metal- Modern  Land  Combat  Vol- 
ume I  ($39.95)  combines  elements  of 
simulation,  arcade  action,  and  strate- 
gy as  you  advance  through  the  ranks 
of  today's  army.  You  start  in  the  war 
as  a  Second  Lieutenant,  devising  strat- 
egies to  overrun  enemy  positions.  Once 
the  strategy  is  set  you  move  to  the  front 
line,  commanding  one  of  three  mod- 
ern weapons  systems:  the  M1A1  Ab- 
rams  (the  US  Army's  newest,  most  so- 
phisticated battle  tank),  the  Martin 
Marietta  Air  Defense  And  Tank  Sys- 
tem, aka  ADATS  (located  at  your  for- 
ward supply  station  to  defend  against 
air  and  ground  attack),  and  the  XR311 
Fast  Attack  Vehicle,  or  FAV  (based  on 
the  actual  US  Army  vehicle  used  to  at- 
tack outlying  enemy  stations). 

Access  Software,  801-298-9077  (see 
address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #184  on  Reader  Service  Card 

Vie  Awesome  Arcade  Action  Pack 
($49.99)  combines  Amiga  adaptations 
of  three  coin-op  hits: 

Sidewinder  takes  place  on  five  lev- 
els inside  the  Star  Killer,  an  alien 
spacecraft  on  a  mission  to  obliterate  the 
sun.  You  pilot  your  craft  through  the 
top-down  scrolling  interior  of  the  cruis- 
er in  an  attempt  to  thwart  the  aliens' 
plans. 
Xenon  requires  you  to  shutde  be- 


INSIDE 


Who  Framed  Roger  Rabbit  offers  hu- 
mor in  the  same  vein  as  the  hit  movie. 

tween  a  ground-based  hovercraft  and 
a  jet  fighter  as  you  burst  through  16  lev- 
els of  enemy  defenses,  dodging  a  con- 
stant barrage  of  alien  attacks. 

Blastball  is  hockey,  3613  A.D.  style, 
as  space  ships  on  a  metal  playing  field 
use  homing  missiles  to  move  the  puck. 
You  can  pilot  one  of  10  different  ships 
against  a  computer-controlled  or  a  real 
opponent. 

Electronic  Arts,  415-571-7171  (see  ad- 
dress list,  page  22). 

Circle  #197  on  Reader  Service  Card 

As  the  Global  Commander  (S39.95) 
of  the  United  Nuclear  Nation  in  the 
year  2032,  you  are  responsible  for  the 
welfare  of  the  16  aggressive,  untrust- 
worthy member  nations.  This  involves 
managing  the  earth's  economies,  de- 
tente, resources,  food  supply,  commun- 
ications—and nuclear  missiles.  To  head 
off  the  threat  of  world  destruction  you 
must  fulfill  all  needs,  cool  hot  tempers, 
mend  stressed  relations,  and  maintain 
military  security.  Your  executive  priv- 
ileges include  eavesdropping  on  radio 
transmissions,  spying  on  illicit  activ- 
ities via  satellite,  and  intercepting  mis- 
siles with  SDI  systems.  Weekly  status 
reports  rate  your  performance. 

Datasoft,  c/o  Electronic  Arts,  415- 
571-7171  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #196  on  Reader  Service  Card 

Mindscape  has  adapted  three  Sega 
coin-op  titles  to  the  Amiga,  at  $49.95 
each: 


Out  Run  lets  you  race  a  high  perfor- 
mance auto  through  European  cities, 
woods,  beaches,  and  the  Swiss  Alps  at 
speeds  of  up  to  200  miles  per  hour. 

Space  Harrier  charges  you,  an  as- 
tral exterminator,  with  the  task  of  rid- 
ding the  polluted  galaxy  of  some  of  the 
most  ghastly  creatures  imaginable. 

In  Alien  Syndrome  you  must  rescue 
people  trapped  inside  an  alien-infested 
genetic  laboratory  before  the  lab's  self- 
destructing  mechanism  makes  the  job 
unnecessary. 

Mindscape,  312-480-7667  (see  ad- 
dress list,  page  22). 

Circle  #199  on  Reader  Service  Card 

Two  new  arcade  games  from  Rain- 
bird,  each  $29.95: 

A  creeping  menace  is  polluting  the 
earth,  spreading  spores  of  of  a  poison- 
ous Virus.  You  pilot  a  hoverplane  in 
pursuit  of  the  Seeder,  armed  with  scan- 
ners, laser  cannons,  and  homing  mis- 
siles. Programmed  by  David  Braben, 
co-author  of  Elite,  the  game  features 
such  graphics  effects  as  fast  scrolling 
with  multidirectional  movement,  real- 
istic contoured  landscape,  and  light- 
source  projected  shadow  effects.  The 
control  system  is  designed  to  facilitate 
the  twisting,  curving  flight  that's  nec- 
essary during  high  speed  attacks. 

You've  kidnapped  the  SpaceCutter, 
a  ship  so  powerful  no  man  has  been 
allowed  to  pilot  it.  Seeking  freedom, 
you  brave  lethal  spacecraft,  flaming  as- 
teroid belts,  and  enemy  missiles  as  you 
search  through  space  for  stargates,  the 
passages  that  lead  to  free  ancient 
worlds.  Though  the  game's  appeal  lies 
mainly  in  its  action  elements,  prob- 
lem-solving skills  will  be  needed  as 
well .  (In  Europe,  the  game  will  be  re- 
leased under  the  name  Whirligig.) 

Rainbird  Software,  415-322-0412  (see 
address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  "158  on  Reader  Service  Card 

Psygnosis'  four-disk  adventure, 
Chrono-Quest,  begins  with  your  dual 
discovery  of  your  father's  dead  body 
and  his  latest  invention— a  time  ma- 
chine. As  the  prime  suspect  in  his  mur- 
der, you  use  the  device  to  escape  from 
the  present  and  follow  your  lather's  real 
killer  into  the  future.  Price  is  £29.95 
including  VAT. 

Psygnosis  has  established  the  Psy- 
clapse  label  in  order  to  differentiate 
specially  commissioned  games  from 

Ahoyl's  AmigaUser     17 


Since  1979 


COMPUTER  DIRECT 

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Prices  do  not  include  Shipping  Ctiarges.  Call  to  get  Your  Lowest  Delivered  Cost   We 
insure  all  shipments  at  no  extra  cost  to  you!  All  packages  are  normally  shipped  UPS 
PS,  «  ' ,,[?     °ay  orJ°ve""8ht  delivery  available.  Minimum  shipping  charge  per  order 
is  S3. 75    Illinois  residents  add  6'/i<Pb  sales  tax.  We  ship  to  all  points  in  the  U.S;  Canada. 

rZZZl *'.C?,i  «Kk5,-Hawaii'  Vir-?in  Islands  and  APO-FPO.  (Monitors  only  shipped  in 
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Circle  -217  on  Rooder  Service  Card 


E|=  news  Tig 


Top:  A2058  RAM  expansion  card  configured  with  2  (foreground)  and  8  mega- 
bytes. Bottom:  A2090A  hard  disk  controller  contains  ST-506  and  SCSI  interfaces. 


their  inhouse  programming  efforts  like 
Barbarian,  Terrorpods,  and  Obi  itera- 
tor. Six  Psyclapse  titles  are  scheduled 
for  release  in  the  months  ahead  in  a 
variety  of  16  and  8  bit  formats.  The 
first,  Menace,  should  be  available  for 
the  Amiga  by  the  time  you  read  these 
words.  It  is  set  on  the  planet  Dracon- 
ia,  a  world  which  six  intergalactic  plun- 
derers have  formed  from  the  worlds 
they've  destroyed.  At  the  controls  of 
single  fighter  craft,  you  must  approach 
the  planet  undetected  and  destroy  it. 
The  game  features  six  levels  of  play, 
over  60  different  aliens,  and  smooth 
parallax  scrolling.  Price  is  £19.95  in- 
cluding V.A.T. 
Psygnosis  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  »159. on  Render  Service  Cord" 

Accolade  and  Jack  Nicklaus  have 
signed  a  three  year  contract  to  produce 
home  computer  golf  simulations.  The 

20    Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


first,  Jack  Nicklaus'  Greatest  18  Holes 
of  Major  Qiampionship  Golf,  is  based 
on  the  recently  released  tape  from  the 
ABC  Sports  Video  Library.  Amiga 
gamers  can  play  on  18  of  Jack's  favor- 
ite holes,  as  well  as  two  of  his  inven- 
tion. You  can  compete  against  Nick- 
laus, against  three  human  opponents, 
or  against  a  variety  of  computer-con- 
trolled men  and  women.  Features  in- 
clude skins  scoring  or  stroke  play,  pro, 
men's,  or  ladies*  tees,  wind  intensity 
and  direction,  and  uphill  or  downhill 
lies.  The  game  will  be  available  by 
Christmas  shopping  season. 
Accolade,  408-985-1700  (see  address 


list,  page  22) 

Clri 


Irele  #160  on  Reader  Service  Card 

2  FOR  THE  2000 

Two  new  Amiga  2000  boards  from 
Commodore: 


The  A2090A  hard  disk  controller 
($399)  will  enable  the  Amiga  2000  to 
access  a  variety  of  high-speed  mass 
storage  devices.  The  board  contains 
both  ST-506  and  SCSI  interfaces  and 
provides  buffered  direct  memory  ac- 
cess with  high  speed  burst  data  trans- 
fer. Up  to  two  ST-506  and  up  to  seven 
SCSI  devices  can  be  connected  simul- 
taneously, allowing  multiple  storage  op- 
tions such  as  hard  disks  to  be  used. 

The  A2058  memory  expansions  card 
($799)  comes  standard  with  2  mega- 
bytes of  RAM  and  room  for  an  addi- 
tional 6  1-megabit  DRAM  chips.  The 
fully  configured  8  megabyte  board  pro- 
vides the  maximum  possible  memory 
for  the  Amiga  2000  while  using  a  sin- 
gle expansion  slot.  The  2000  system 
auto-configures  for  the  additional 
memory,  which  can  be  accessed  and 
utilized  by  the  CPU. 

Commodore,  215-431-9100  (see  ad- 
dress list,  page  22). 

Circle  #207  on  Reader  Service  Card 

EXPANDERS 

Three  expansion  peripherals  from 
Spirit: 

The  S  500-2  is  expandable  to  two 
megabytes  of  fest  memory.  The  board's 
256Kx4  DRAMS  require  only  4  chips 
per  half  meg.  The  system  auto-configs 
in  the  standard  Amiga  expansion  range, 
and  has  an  optional  external  power 
configuration.  Price  of  the  bare  board 
is  $299,  with  each  half  megabyte  cost- 
ing $160;  so  a  2  meg  board,  for  exam- 
ple, would  run  S939. 

The  HDA-506  Hard  Disk  Adaptor 
(S249)  lets  500  and  1000  owners  use 
inexpensive  IBM-compatible  hard 
drives  with  ST-506  controller  boards. 
The  adaptor  is  enclosed  in  an  Amiga- 
matching  metal  chassis  with  passthru, 
and  draws  its  power  from  the  hard  drive 
power  supply. 

The  MIDI  STAR  interface  features 
multiple  ports,  switch  control,  and 
LED  status  indicators.  It's  available 
with  1  ESf  and  4  OUT/THRUs  ($169) 
or  2  IN  and  6  OUT/THRUs  ($229), 
and  an  RS-232  interface,  all  switch-se- 
lectable. The  configuration  allows  dis- 
tribution control  of  the  MIDI  data 
through  the  multiple  output  ports  in  a 
"star"  pattern  direct  to  the  instruments 
to  eliminate  daisy  chains  and  signal  de- 
lay. All  ports  have  two-color  LED  sta- 
tus confirmation  indicators  to  show  when 

Circle  #170  on  Reader  Service  Card    ■* 


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No  Matter 
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ton 
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sw 


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m 


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im 

• 

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No  matter  how  you  stack  'em, 
SupraDrives  are  the  best.  The 
best  performers.  The  best  de- 
signs. The  best  fit  for  your 
system. 

And  frankly,  the  best  choice 
you  could  make,  no  matter  how 
you  stack  your  options. 

Only  Supra  offers  you  complete 
SupraDrive  Hard  Disk  Systems 
for  the  Amiga  500,  the  Amiga 
1000,    and  the  Amiga  2000  in 
various  capacities  and  forms. 
You  can  get  external  drives, 
internal  drives,  interface  kits, 
and  RAM  expansion  kits.  You 
can  get  drives  ranging  in  size 
from  20  MB  all  the  way  up  to 
250MB.   Whatever  your  system 
configuration  and  needs,  you 
can  get  a  Supra  hard  disk 
that's  just  right  for  YOU. 

And  if  what  you  need  is  backup 
or  unlimited  storage,  you  can 
get  the  SupraDrive  FD-10,  a 
new  concept  in  mass  storage 
that  combines  the  best  features 
of  hard  disks  and  floppy  disks. 
The  SupraDrive  FD-10  lets  you 
store  a  full  10MB  of  data  on 
one  floppy  disk  and  then  easily 
take  the  disk  with  you  any- 
where.  Your  storage  capacity 
is  limited  only  by  the  number 
of  disks  you  have,  and  backups 
are  quick  and  easy. 

Now,  don't  you 
want  to  buy 
your  new  disk 
drive  from  a 
company  that 
has  years  of 
experience  to 
share  with  you 
and  the  stability  to  ensure  that 
they'll  be  around  when  you 
need  it?  Only  Supra  Corpora- 
tion offers  you  state-of-the-art, 
innovative  technology  and  ex- 
perience plus  service  you  can 
count  on. 

Call  your  local  dealer  or : 


Supra  corporation 


1-800-727-8772  (Orders  Only)  or  503-967-9075 
1133  Commercial  Way      Albany,  OR  97321 
FAX:  503-926-9370 
Telex:  5106005236  (Supra  Corp.) 


SupraDrive  Interface 
for  the  Amiga  2000. 


Bl=^=  HEWS  HIE 


the  port  is  an  OUT,  THRU,  or  OFF,  and 
to  indicate  which  input  is  in  use. 

Spirit  Technology  Corporation,  801- 
485-4233  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #156  an  Reader  Service  Cam 

DP  II  TUTOR 

Video  Guide  to  DeluxePaint  II  offers 
30  minutes  of  tips  and  techniques  for 
users  of  the  program.  In  the  tape,  a  pro- 
fessional artist  demonstrates  enhanced 
text  effects  like  drop  shadows  and  em- 
bossed text,  the  creation  of  a  256  col- 
or palette  using  only  16  basic  colors, 
the  use  of  gradient  fills  for  realistic 
landscapes,  adding  realistic  depth  to 
images  via  the  automatic  Perspective, 
and  more.  The  VHS -format  cassette  is 
available  only  through  Electronic  Arts* 
Direct  Sales  department  (800-245-4525) 
for  $19.95  plus  $3.00  shipping  and 
handling;  or  for  free  when  you  pur- 
chase DP  II  from  that  department  at 
its  retail  price. 

Electronic  Arts,  415-571-7171  (see  ad- 
dress list,  page  22). 

Circle  #200  on  Reader  Service  Cerd 

680X0  PROGRAMMING 

680X0  Programming  by  Example 
($17.95),  a  sequel  to  the  68000,  68010, 
68020  Primer,  teaches  the  finer  points 
of  M68000  assembly  language  with 
hundreds  of  practical  examples.  For  the 
novice,  there  is  a  detailed  guide  to  the 
M68000  instruction  set  and  addressing 
modes,  plus  an  introduction  to  assem- 
blers, linkers,  and  loaders.  For  the  ad- 
vanced programmer,  tips  for  producing 
fast  bugfree  code  are  given. 

Howard  W.  Sams  &  Company,  317- 
298-5400  (see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #201  on  Reader  Service  Card 

KINDWORDS  2.0 

The  KindWords  2.0  word  processor 
improves  upon  the  original  with  new 
font  styles,  auto  and  manual  hyphena- 
tion, and  new  menu  commands  (in- 
cluding Select  All  and  improved  Open 
and  Save  requesters).  Support  for 
Workbench  1.3,  including  the  new  en- 
hanced printer  drivers,  has  also  been 
added.  Price  is  $99.95;  users  who  pur- 
chased KindHbrds  after  July  31  can  up- 
grade for  $10. 

Additionally,  KindWords  2.0  is  an- 
choring 77ii?  Publishers'  Choice  Desk- 
top Publishing  and  Presentation  Sys- 
tem ($299.95).  Bundled  with  it  are  the 
Pagesetter  1.2  desktop  layout  program. 


CaleFbnts  (with  over  35  different  head- 
line fonts),  and  the  Artists'  Choice  Art- 
pack  (featuring  more  than  200  IFF  clip 
art  graphics).  An  introductory  tutorial 
describes  the  kinds  of  documents  that 
can  be  created  with  the  program,  and 
provides  step  by  step  instructions  for 
their  creation. 

The  Disc  Company,  313-665-5540 
(see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #208  on  Reader  Service  Cert! 

GET  YOUR  BACKUP 

SuperBack  ($79.95),  formerly  known 
as  V  Backup,  has  been  revamped  and 
is  now  being  distributed  by  The  Disc 


Company.  The  utility  copies  any  or  all 
of  the  files  on  a  hard  disk,  RAM  disk, 
or  network  device  in  minutes.  Data  can 
be  restored  selectively  by  file,  direc- 
tory, or  device.  All  features  are  acces- 
sible via  keyboard  shortcuts  or  the 
mouse.  The  manual  includes  informa- 
tion on  formatting  various  hard  disks, 
plus  step-by-step  instructions  for  crea- 
ting a  backup. 

The  Disc  Company,  313-665-5540 
(see  address  list,  page  22). 

Circle  #209  on  Reader  Service  Card 

For  more  information,  contact  com- 
panies directly  or  use  the  Reader  Ser- 
vice Card  between  pages  50  and  51. 


Abacus 

5370  52nd  Street  SE 
Grand  Rapids,  MI  49508 
Phone:  616-698-0330 

Access 

545  W.  550  So.,  Ste.  DO 
Bountiful,  UT  84010 
Phone:  801-298-9077 

Accolade 

550  S.  Winchester  Blvd. 
San  Jose,  CA  95128 
Phone:  408-985-1700 

Aegis 

2115  Pico  Blvd. 
Santa  Monica,  CA  90405 
Phone:  800-345-9871;  in 
CA  213-392-9972 

AmiEXPO 

211  E.  43rd  St.,  Suite  301 
New  York,  NY  10017 
Phone:  212-867-4663 

Buena  Vista  Software 

3800  West  Alameda  Ave. 
Burbank,  CA  91505 
Phone:  818-569-7397 

Commodore 

1200  Wilson  Drive 
West  Chester.  PA  19380 
Phone:  215^31-9100 

Day's 

17538  Glen  Road 
Gambier,  OH  43022 
Phone:  614-397-5639 

Discovery  Software 

163  Conduit  Street 
Annapolis,  MD  21401 
Phone:  301-268-9877 

Dr.  Ts 

220  Boylston  Street 
Chestnut  Hill,  MA  02167 
Phone:  617-244-6954 

Electronic  Arts 

1820  Gateway  Drive 
San  Mateo,  CA  94404 
Phone:  415-571-7171 


Exhibition  Marketing 

8300  Greensboro  Drive 
McLean,  VA  22102 
Phone:  703-893-4545 

Howard  W.  Sams  &  Co. 

4300  West  62nd  Street 
Indianapolis,  IN  46268 
Phone:  317-298-5400 

Inkwell  Systems 

5710  Ruffin  Road 

San  Diego,  CA  92123-1013 

Phone:  619-268-8792 

Jmnpdi.sk 
1493  Mt.  View  Ave. 
Chico,  CA  95926 
Phone:  916-343-7658 

KFS  Software,  Inc. 

1301  Seminole  Blvd. 
Largo,  FL  34640 
Phone:  813-584-2355 

Konami 

815  Mittel  Drive 
Wood  Dale,  IL  60191 
Phone:  312-595-1443 

LLM  Press 

150  Broadway 

New  York,  NY  10038 

Phone:  212-766-3785 

Memory  and  Storage 
Technology,  Inc. 

7631  East  Greenway  Road 
Scottsdale,  AZ  85260 
Phone:  602-483-6359 

Micron  Technology,  Inc. 

2805  East  Columbia  Road 
Boise,  ID  83706 
Phone:  208-383-4000 

Microlllusions 

17408  Chatsworth  Street 
Granada  Hills,  CA  91344 
Phone:  800-522-2041 

Mindscape  Inc. 

3444  Dundee  Road 
Northbrook,  IL  60062 
Phone:  312-480-7667 


Companies 
Mentioned 

in  Scuttlebutt 

Online  Information 
Network 

5707  South  86th  Circle 
P.O.  Box  27347 
Omaha,  NE  68127 
Phone:  402-593-4593 

Practical  Solutions 

1930  E.  Grant  Rd. 
Tucson.  AZ  85719 
Phone:  602-884-9612 

Progressive  Peripherals 
&  Software 

464  Kalamath  St. 
Denver,  CO  80204 
Phone:  303-825-4144 

Psygnosis  Ltd. 

Port  of  Liverpool 
Liverpool  L3  1BY 
United  Kingdom 
Phone:  051  207  0825 

Ralnbird 

3883  Bohannon  Drive 
Menlo  Park,  CA  94025 
Phone:  415-322-0412 

S.P.O.C 

Box  299 

Kiowa,  OK  74553 

Phone:  918^32-5774 

Spirit  Technology  Corp. 

220  West  2950  South 
Salt  Lake  City,  UT  84115 
Phone:  80W85-4233 

The  Disc  Company 

3135  South  State  Street 
Ann  Arbor,  MI  48108 
Phone:  313-665-5540 

The  ToolCaddy  Works 
P.O.  Box  5873 
Laughlin,  NV  89029-5873 
Phone:  702-298^252 


22    Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


ost  of  us  grew  up  watching  television. 
Whether  it  was  a  gentle  teacher  that  took 
us  to  faraway  places  or  an  escape  that  al- 
i  lowed  us  to  avoid  the  real  world,  televi- 
sion influenced  our  lives  and  became  an  inextricable  part 
of  them.  We  are  the  TV  generation. 

TV  has  shaped  not  only  our  values,  but  even  our  habits, 
our  likes  and  dislikes.  Is  it  just  my  imagination,  or  has  our 
society  demanded  more  color  (in  clothing,  furniture,  auto- 
mobiles) since  the  introduction  of  color  TV? 

And  what  effects  have  our  viewing  habits  had  on  our  daily 
lives,  on  our  collective  attention  span?  Look  at  USA  To- 
day. Phenomenally  successful,  this  national  newspaper  is 
targeted  at  our  TV-dependent  attention  span.  Its  600-word 
articles  tell  you  just  enough  for  you  to  know  that  news  is 
actually  happening.  Then  you  "switch  channels"  to  the  next 
news  blurb.  We  grew  up  with  TV,  and  it  defined  other  parts 
of  our  culture. 

Not  today,  though.  The  TV  generation  is  a  dying  breed— 
doomed  to  sit  idly  by,  the  passive  receptors  of  information. 
Whether  it's  Jacques  Cousteau  or  Vanna  White  (if  you  can 
call  what  she  purveys  "information"),  TV  is  a  one-way  street. 

Today's  young  people,  and  many  of  us  middle-aged  tech- 
nophiles,  want  to  be  more  than  eyes  to  see  with  and  ears 
to  hear  with .  We  want  change,  choice,  interactivity.  What's 
my  evidence?  Let's  look  at  a  few  trends. 

•  Yuppie  timeshifting.  Got  a  date  right  when  LA  Law 
is  on?  No  problem;  tape  the  show  and  watch  later  when 
you  can  zip  past  commercials.  The  pause  and  rewind  but- 
tons are  a  darned  sight  more  useful  than  any  commercial 
break.  We're  taking  control  of  when  we  watch, 

•  Video  rentals.  Commercial  programming  got  you  bored 
to  tears?  Just  take  a  quick  run  to  the  video  store.  It's  prob- 
ably as  close  as  the  gas  station  or  convenience  store.  Dur- 
ing the  recent  TV  writers'  strike,  people  didn't  turn  off  the 
TV  and  hold  meaningful  discussions.  They  left  the  TV  on 
and  switched  to  cable  or  rented  movies.  In  1986,  when  VCRs 
had  invaded  nearly  half  the  homes  in  the  nation,  VCR  movie 
revenues  topped  local  box  office  revenues  for  the  first  time. 
We're  taking  control  of  what  we  watch. 


•  Commercial  ventures.  Want  to  sell  a  product?  Use  that 
familiar  TV  screen  to  sell  it,  but  make  your  pitch  interac- 
tive. Visit  Disney  World  and  you  will  find  touch  screen  vid- 
eos that  serve  as  tour  guides.  Watch  the  development  of 
Prodigy,  a  joint  venture  in  videotex  by  IBM  and  Sears,  as 
it  spreads  from  test  cities  over  the  next  few  years  offering 
news,  sports,  weather,  and  home  shopping.  We're  demand- 
ing that  what  we  watch  be  individualized  to  our  needs. 

•  Games  and  education.  Want  to  get  involved,  to  be  a 
character  in  the  story,  to  visit  that  distant  land?  Use  TV 
for  the  sights  and  sounds  with  other  technology  (from  vid- 
eodiscs to  computers  to  satellite  communications)  to  put 
you  in  control.  Interactive  videodiscs  have  been  around  for 
years.  They  let  you  slay  a  dragon  or  tour  Aspen,  Colorado.  . 
VCR  games  are  a  popular  diversion  because  they  let  you 
be  a  character  and  control  the  unwinding  plot.  Educators 
are  linking  their  classes  to  live  events  thousands  of  miles 
away  to  make  students'  scientific  exploration  and  discov- 
ery a  real  "hands-on"  process.  We're  demanding  that  what 
appears  on  the  screeen  actually  interact  with  us. 

The  TV  generation  will  give  way  to  the  video  generation. 
We'll  leave  it  to  someone  else  to  come  up  with  a  better  name 
than  "video  generation."  One  that  implies  not  rented  mov- 
ies, but  fully  interactive  and  individualized  programming 
with  computers  at  its  heart. 

And  as  we  all  know,  the  Amiga  will  find  its  way  to  the 
eye  of  the  video  storm.  No  other  consumer  computer  is 
as  well  suited  to  deal  with  the  demands  of  an  interactive 
video  environment.  Don't  get  me  wrong,  we  are  not  there 
yet  and  won't  be  for  some  time.  The  flood  of  Amiga  video 
hardware  and  software  portends  the  Amiga's  future. 

Business  people  will  tell  you  that  for  persuading  an  aud- 
ience or  explaining  a  difficult  concept,  nothing  beats  good 
graphics.  They  use  graphics  and  video  to  grab  our  atten- 
tion in  stores,  to  present  business  plans,  and  to  train  their 
own  employees.  Surely  Commodore's  "I  am  the  Amiga'' 
videotape  has  drawn  a  crowd  or  two. 

Social  scientists  and  educators  will  tell  you  that  we  re- 
member as  little  as  one-fifth  of  what  we  only  hear.  But  add 
a  visual  image  and  we  remember  one  and  a  half  times  as 

Ahoyl's  AmigaUser     23 


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REGRESSION 


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much.  Make  the  presentation  interactive  and  we  are  liable 
to  remember  three  times  more  than  we  would  have  based 
on  a  verbal  presentation  alone. 

Musicians  will  tell  you  that  the  future  of  popular  music 
is  interwoven  with  video.  Live  shows,  by  groups  like  Oin- 
go  Boingo,  use  Amiga-generated  graphics  as  a  backdrop. 
We've  all  gorged  on  music  videos  like  they  were  potato  chips. 
The  industry  is  on  the  verge  of  something  far  better. 

CD-I-Graphics  (or  CD+G)  will  marry  our  compact  disc 
players  to  our  TVs.  A  CD  can  hold  up  to  600  megabytes— 
far  more  room  than  the  music  itself  takes.  A  CD-I-Graph- 
ics spec  has  been  defined  by  Philips/Sony.  Graphics  are 
stored  in  low  resolution  (320  x  200).  Each  image  is  lim- 
ited to  16  colors  and  will  take  up  to  7  seconds  to  display. 
With  standards  like  these,  the  only  problem  for  Amiga  ar- 
tists will  be  holding  themselves  back. 

JVC  has  already  shown  a  $400  decoder  at  the  1988  Con- 
sumer Electronics  Show.  (CD  players  with  built-in  decod- 
ers eventually  are  expected  to  sell  for  this  price.)  Already, 
the  Talking  Heads  have  a  CD+G,  "Naked,"  that  displays 
lyrics  and  music.  (We  will  only  mention  the  more  expen- 
sive CD-V  format  that  combines  5  minutes  of  video  with 
20  minutes  of  audio  on  a  single  CD.) 

CD+G  relies  on  the  existing  CD  technology.  Much  more 
may  be  possible.  Video  Magazine  reports  that  Matsushita 
has  a  new  laser  that  can  quadruple  optical  disc  storage.  And 
Bell  Labs  has  designed  a  computer  chip  that  can  create  a 
video  image  using  as  little  as  1/100  the  CD  data  needed  today. 
Changes  like  these,  when  coupled  with  the  next  generation 
of  Amigas,  will  overwhelm  us  with  power. 

So  we  have  moved  quickly  through  TV  and  video,  enter- 
tainment and  education,  news  reporting  and  marketing.  In 
every  area,  computers  will  combine  with  other  technologies 
to  customize  our  worlds  and  to  allow  us  to  interact  with 
them. 

Perhaps  nowhere  can  the  possibility  of  the  future  be  seen 
as  clearly  as  at  MIT's  Media  Lab.  Housed  in  the  Wiesner 
Building,  the  Media  Lab  is  a  center  for  research  on  the  con- 
vergence of  three  industries:  the  broadcast  and  motion  pic- 
ture industry,  the  print  and  publishing  industry,  and  the  com- 
puter industry. 

An  enlightening  book,  appropriately  titled  The  Media 
Lab:  Inventing  the  Future  at  MIT,  by  Stewart  Brand,  de- 
scribes many  of  the  exciting  new  uses  of  computers,  video, 
communications,  and  art  that  we  all  have  to  look  forward  to. 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  sections  is  on  animating  vir- 
tual reality.  Scientists  and  researchers  have  created  every- 
thing from  real  time  computer/ video  environments  with 
sharks  swimming  around  you  (using  a  modified  S2.5  mil- 
lion advanced  flight  simulator)  to  an  instrumented  suit  that 
creates  animations  from  your  live  movements.  Through  their 
studies,  these  researchers  push  the  limits  of  artificial  intel- 
ligence, robotics,  and  animation. 

The  Amiga  is  the  desktop  video  computer.  Desktop  vid- 
eo, far  from  being  the  "vertical  market"  that  some  people 
limit  it  to,  will  prove  to  have  wide  appeal  in  the  business 
and  educational  commuities.  If  you're  wowed  by  a  killer 
demo,  imagine  the  effect  in  the  boardroom  or  classroom 
when  that  same  technology  is  used  to  explain  a  new  con- 
cept. □ 


24     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


Order  Toll  Free 

800-558-0003^ 

Wl  ordm  ind  Irtormilcn 

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is  the  first  "hardcard"  design  DMA  SCSI  hard  drive 
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■  The  OverDrive  uses  a  two-channel  Motorola  68440  direct 
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DESKTOP 
VIDEO: 

First  You  Have  to 
Know  What  It  Is 

By  Jay  Gross 


uick,  now.  What's  "desktop  video"?  That's  a 
hard  one,  isn't  it?  Video  is  less  difficult  to  do 
on  a  desktop  than  it  is  to  define.  In  fact,  the 
concept  of  desktop  video  follows  along  in  the 
rich  tradition  of  desktop  publishing.  It  starts  out  more  ex- 
pensive than  you  might  have  thought.  It  isn't  a  new  idea, 
just  a  new  way  of  describing  an  old  one.  And  if  you  get 
really  serious  about  it,  it  no  longer  fits  on  a  desktop. 

A  desk  will  as  readily  hold  a  million  bucks'  worth  of  vid- 
eo stuff  as  it  does  a  discounter's  VCR.  Yet,  the  term  "desk- 
top video"  conjures  up  a  vision  of  pure  computer-driven 
magic  for  nearly  no  investment.  For  some  of  the  cold  hard 
realities  of  this  developing  end  of  the  video  business,  and 
the  Amiga  business,  too,  read  on.  Here  are  some  sugges- 
tions on  how  to  get  started  in  it,  along  with  some  reasons 
why  you  might  be  interested  in  getting  started  in  it,  and 
maybe  an  answer  to  the  question,  "What  is  desktop  video"? 

SMILE! 

Like  it  or  no,  home  video  has  taken  over  where  the  home 
movie  left  off.  The  whirring  of  Super  8  movie  cameras  has 
been  almost  completely  replaced  at  family  gatherings  by 
the  silent  blinking  of  home  camcorders.  Small  wonder.  As 
far  as  recording  life's  events  for  posterity,  video  has  a  num- 
ber of  huge  advantages  over  photographic  film. 

For  example,  videotape  requires  no  expensive  (or  time 
consuming)  photographic  processing.  You  don't  have  to  wait 
a  week  to  get  the  film  back,  by  which  time  your  enthusi- 
asm has  diminished  accordingly.  You  also  don't  have  to  en- 
trust your  precious  pictures  to  strangers  or  pay  them  for 
doing  their  thing  to  them,  either.  Compare  the  running  time 
of  a  Super  8  camera  load -about  three  minutes— to  video's 
(up  to)  several  hours. 

Another  video  advantage  is  that  sound  and  picture  are 
easily  recorded  simultaneously  and  synchronize 
automatically.  Mainly,  though,  home  videotape  production 
is  far  easier  on  the  budget  than  home  movies  when  you 
consider  the  film  processing  cost  into  the  bargain,  even 
though  entry-level  electronic  equipment  is  a  bit  more 
expensive  than  the  corresponding  film-based  gadgetry. 

SAY  CHEESE! 

Compared  to  consumer  camera  equipment,  today's  cam- 
corders can  take  pictures  in  less  light,  adjust  for  more  dif- 
ferent lighting  situations,  focus  across  a  wider  range,  and 


carry  home  the  shots  in  full  motion,  with  sound. 

These  days,  you  see  videographers  everywhere.  The  vid- 
eo press  has  accomodatingly  coined  the  term  "videots"  to 
describe  these  peculiarly  behaving  humanoids. 

Peculiar  behavior?  See  what  you  think.  Peering  through 
the  camcorder,  deftly  operating  the  automatic  zoom  and  fo- 
cusing, skillfully  allowing  the  camera  to  adjust  electroni- 
cally for  color  and  light  level,  the  home  videographer  aims 
a  camcorder  at  a  child's  birthday  party  (for  example).  Pres- 
to! Desktop  video? 

Not  quite -the  Amiga  is  still  cold  and  dark  over  in  the 
corner  on  the  desk. 

Desktop  video  involves  a  bit  more  than  just  home  cam- 
corder shooting.  If  you  just  aim  and  shoot  and  play  the  tape 
in  the  VCR,  you  haven't  done  any  of  what  the  industry  calls 
"video  post-production,"  which  is  the  niche  where  the  Am- 
iga fits  itself  into  the  video  business.  Post-production  from 
camera  originals  isn't  the  only  way  to  define  "desktop  vid- 
eo," however.  Muddy,  isn't  it? 

MAKE  A  WISH 

After  the  taping  is  finished  and  cake  icing  is  all  over  the 
place,  the  cassette  goes  into  the  trusty  VCR  so  everybody 
can  have  a  good  laugh.  (No  way  with  photographic  film, 
eh?)  Cut  to  child,  puffing  at  candles.  Glitch!  Closeup  of 
candles.  Glitch!  Cut  to  child  opening  presents.  Glitch! 

Those  "glitches"  (a  proper  video  term,  thank  you)  result 
from  starting  and  stopping  the  camera.  Some  equipment 
glitches  are  worse  than  others.  Also,  wouldn't  it  be  nice 
if  the  picture  sort  of  faded  out  from  one  shot  and  into  the 
next?  And  how  about  titles? 

Ah,  titles!  Denise's  Third  Birthday.  Vacation  Visit  to  Ep- 
cot  Center.  Gary's  Body  Cast.  Now  we're  approaching  the 
realm  of  desktop  video  where  the  trusty  Amiga  computer 
can  lend  a  hand.  Such  things  as  titles,  graphics,  and  mu- 
sic. Music!  Sure,  why  not?  Animations,  too.  Desktop  Vid- 
eo? Close.  Have  a  cigar. 

Still,  desktop  video  isn't  just  one  thing- like  editing.  Add 
in  tiding,  birthday  parties,  and  animation.  Especially  ani- 
mation. Whichever,  the  Amiga's  right  at  home  on  a  desk 
devoted  to  video,  so  now  for  a  few  words  about  the  most 
basic  building  block  for  desktop  video,  which  you  probab- 
ly at  least  already  have  one  of.  The  Amiga. 

First,  clock  speed.  The  Amiga  ticks  along  at  an  even  mul- 

Ahoyl's  AmigaUser     29 


tiple  of  the  "speed"  of  broadcast  television.  Significantly, 
to  get  a  TV  signal  out  of  the  Amiga,  you  just  divide  by 
two.  Competing  computers  require  expensive  devices  called 
"scan  converters"  to  accomplish  the  same  thing.  Score  one 
for  the  Amiga!  With  the  money  you  save  on  a  scan  conver- 
ter, you  can  buy  every  piece  of  Amiga  video  software  made 
-and  that's  MANY  titles! -and  have  change  left  over. 

Second  item,  flicker.  The  same  "feature"  of  the  Amiga 
that  drives  you  nuts  in  hi-resolution  mode  makes  the  Ami- 
ga's picture  output  quite  welcome  to  a  video  environment- 
interlace.  Take  a  close  look  at  the  titles  on  the  evening  news 
on  one  of  your  local  channels.  The  letters  dance  around 
something  fierce  due  to  the  same  interlace  that  gives  the 
Amiga  its  notorious  "flicker"  mode.  Although  it  doesn't  do 
much  for  your  eyes,  it  works  wonders  in  a  video  setup.  If 
the  signal  already  has  interlace  (flicker),  it  doesn't  have  to 
be  added  or  worked  around. 

BYE-BYE,  BORDERS 

Third,  overscan.  The  Amiga  has  made  borders  obsolete 
in  home  computering  by  addressing  all  those  extra  pixels 
(768  x  480  in  the  USA),  and  even  being  able  to  animate 
out  there  as  well.  Video  is  not  bordered -one  of  the  main 
reasons  the  Amiga  has  found  such  a  hearty  welcome  in  vid- 
eo circles. 

And  fourth,  power.  The  Amiga's  great  graphics  are  most 
welcome  in  video  circles,  too,  because  video  consumers 
are  accustomed  to  plentiful  graphics.  Check  out  any  net- 
work sporting  event  for  examples,  especially  the  Olympic 
Games  (ABC  Television  used  Amigas  to  do  those  flashy 
graphic  overlays  during  the  Winter  Olympics).  Even  the 
intros  to  the  network's  main  attractions  frequendy  start  with 
incredibly  elaborate  computer-animated  graphics. 

Okay,  back  down  to  the  desktop,  Denise's  birthday  party 
cries  out  for  titling. 

DENISE  TURNS  THREE! 
A  C.  Amy  Production 
Art  direction  by  Paula  and  Agnes 

It's  easy  as  pie  to  get  a  title  onto  the  Amiga  screen.  Even 
without  help  from  titling  software,  you  can  use  the  Ami- 
ga's fonts  to  put  together  a  passable  title  screen.  Shades  of 
green,  purple,  red,  and  yellow.  Shades  of  Notepad! 

Shades  of  desktop  video,  then?  You  bet!  It's  the  home 
consumer  end  of  video  production,  using  the  vast  power 
of  the  Amiga  to  help  things  out.  Finally,  the  elusive  defin- 
ition develops.... 

Next  part.  How  do  you  get  the  tides  onto  the  tape?  If 
you  videotape  the  screen,  you'll  get  weird  lines,  maybe  even 
burn  up  something(!).  Also,  there'll  be  those  infernal  glit- 
ches around  each  title.  Not  only  that,  but  there's  no  room 
for  titling  at  the  start  of  the  tape  before  the  party  gets  going! 

Now  you  know  what  a  video  genlock  is  for.  To  mix  tides 
over  the  party  images,  you  need  to  synchronize  the  Ami- 
ga's screen  image  with  the  image  from  your  party  tape  and 
record  the  combined  (the  video  term  is  "composited")  pic- 
ture onto  another  VCR.  Forget  splicing  the  tape  itself.  Don't 
even  think  about  it.  It  isn't  done. 

Yes,  the  combined  image  will  be  a  "second  generation." 


That  generally  means  that  unless  you  start  with  a  quality 
original  and  use  a  quality  video  deck  to  produce  the  fin- 
ished product,  you'll  lose  considerable  picture  definition 
in  the  editing  process.  Nevertheless,  that's  the  way  it's  done 
in  video.  It's  just  like  in  computer  programming.  Garbage 
in,  garbage  out. 

SYNCHRONIZE  YOUR  PIXELS 

The  genlock  is  an  electronic  device  which  does  the  match- 
ing required  to  perform  the  magic  of  blending  the  Amiga's 
screen  with  Denise's  birthday  pictures.  In  video,  that  means 
"synch."  When  the  screen's  topmost  pixel  is  being  addressed 
by  any  unit,  either  monitor,  VCR,  or  camera,  that  exact 
pixel  is  also  being  addressed  on  all  the  other  pieces  of  equip- 
ment in  the  puzzle.  If  the  iyr  ;h  is  out  of  whack,  you  get 
a  big  mess  where  a  picture  ought  to  be. 

Since  the  Amiga  came  onto  the  video  scene,  the  cost  of 
genlock  devices  has  dropped  dramatically.  Home  user  lev- 
els of  this  device  now  start  in  the  $150  range,  and  even  the 
more  complex,  "broadcast  quality"  Amiga  genlocks  start 
at  only  $700  or  so,  although  some  of  them  will  park  only 
in  Amiga  2000's.  The  premium  Amiga  genlocks  (Magni, 
Neriki)  hit  $1600.  Compare  these  prices  with  the  $2000 
and  way-up  level  B.A.  (Before  Amiga.) 

More  and  more  of  the  video  industry's  magic  boxes  are 
becoming  affordable  to  normal  humans.  As  the  demand  for 
home  video,  and  "serious"  video,  and  "professional"  video 
equipment  increases  further,  there  will  be  more  stuff  com- 
ing down  to  earth  to  meet  the  demand  for  desktoppable  vid- 
eo equipment  that's  also  wallet-compatible. 

PLAYING  CATCH 

At  whatever  level,  it's  catching  on,  this  video  thing,  and 
especially  the  desktop  end  of  it.  Have  you  noticed  that  cer- 
tain computer  companies  are  now  playing  run-and-catch- 
up  with  the  Amiga,  trying  to  patch  video  capabilities  ontu 
their  machines? 

Like  desktop  video  itself,  the  definition  of  desktop  vid- 
eo is  still  developing,  but  after  all  this  rambling,  desktop 
video  seems  pretty  well  defined,  if  still  a  bit  muddily.  Now, 
the  question  is:  WHY  would  you  be  interested  in  desktop 
video  in  the  first  place? 

Some  people  become  interested  in  desktop  video  for  its 
animation  potential.  Animation  is  far  faster  to  produce  with 
computers  than  it  is  with  traditional  film.  Even  when  do- 
ing meticulous  "cell"  animation  on  the  computer,  the  soft- 
ware's memory  makes  errors  easily  "undone"  and  repetitive 
drawing  a  matter  of  clicking  the  mouse  buttons. 

Others  are  attracted  to  video  for  the  money-making  po- 
tential. The  market  for  video  professionals  is  expanding, 
with  the  Amiga  leading  the  way.  You  no  longer  even  have 
to  have  a  millionaire  in  the  family  to  get  started  in  it.  Op- 
portunities are  endless.  Corporations,  organizations,  legal 
services  agencies,  rock  bands. 

Rock  bands?  Yes,  columnists  in  music  publications  have 
been  caught  suggesting  that  up-and-coming  music  groups 
produce  not  just  demo  music  tapes,  but  a  demo  video. 

So  why  would  you  be  interested  in  desktop  video?  Good 
question,  simple  answer.  It's  artistically  rewarding.  It's  po- 
tentially financially  rewarding.  And  oh  yes,  it's  fun!  □ 


30    Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


DESKTOP  VIDEO: 


What  Does  It  Cost? 

By  Jay  Gross 


You  can  get  into  computering  for  the  cost  of  an 
Amiga,  so  how  much  does  it  cost  to  move  into 
desktop  video?  Answering  this  question  is 
really  simpler  than  defining  desktop  video  in 
the  first  place.  First,  pick  your  level,  from  "Just  Having 
Fun"  to  "Professional  Videographer."  Then,  pick  your  price. 
The  higher  levels  will  pick  your  pocket! 

Doing  desktop  video  at  the  entry  level  sets  you  back  next 
to  nothing.  Add  up  the  cost  of  a  good  camcorder,  a  decent 
VCR,  some  Amiga  software,  and  maybe  a  genlock.  You 
may  have  some  of  these  items  in  your  collection  already. 
If  you  have  an  Amiga  1000,  you  don't  even  need  a  genlock 
to  get  the  Amiga  screen  onto  tape  (in  color).  For  A500  and 
A2000  owners,  several  companies  produce  composite  video 
adapters  (listing  for  $50-5100)  that  will  give  you  a  color, 
videotapeable  signal  from  the  Amiga's  RGB  output. 

The  quality  you  get  from  these  devices  varies  greatly 
(mainly  downward),  and  isn't  at  all  what  you'd  want  for  pro- 
fessional video  work,  but  it'd  be  okay  for  many  home  vid- 
eo purposes.  Adding  even  a  low-end  genlock  device  adds 
a  higher  quality  color  signal,  as  well  as  the  ability  to  mix 
video  with  the  Amiga.  The  home  video  level  of  genlock 
lists  for  $150-$300. 

ADDINO  MORE  VCRS 

For  this  very  small  investment  so  far,  you  can  do  won- 
ders for  recording  Denise's  birthday  parties.  To  be  able  to 
mix  videos  or  superimpose  graphics  on  videos,  you  need 
the  genlock  unit  of  your  choice  and  at  least  two  VCR's.  Three 
VCR's  would  be  even  nicer,  but  two  will  do.  Quality  counts. 
The  better  the  VCRs  you  have,  the  better  your  videos  will 
look. 

You  can't  record  birthday  parties  without  a  camcorder, 
but  if  you  intend  to  do  only  animation  videos,  you  don't 
particularly  need  a  camera  of  any  kind  to  get  into  desktop 
video. 

The  Amiga  is  a  high-powered  animation  tool  "just  for 
fun"  or  for  serious,  take  your  pick.  There  are  now  several 
professional  animation  studios  which  use  the  Amiga  exclu- 
sively for  their  productions.  Two  of  those  are  Winners  Cir- 
cle Systems,  whose  work  was  shown  at  Siggraph,  and  Five 
Rings  Company,  whose  classical  cell  animations  by  Heidi 
Turnipseed  have  been  featured  on  a  recent  Computer  Chron- 
icles television  program. 

Siggraph  is  the  trade  show  of  the  Association  for  Com- 
puter Manufacturing  Special  Interest  Group  on  Computer 
Graphics.  Whew!  Time  magazine  has  said  that  getting 


picked  for  the  Siggraph  art  and  video  show  is  the  compu- 
ter graphics  equivalent  of  getting  an  Academy  Award  in  mo- 
tion pictures. 

Amiga  animators  will  mainly  want  a  first-class  VCR,  pref- 
erably one  of  the  so-called  "editing"  units  capable  of  sin- 
gle-frame recording  and  truly  seamless,  "glitchless"  edits. 
Such  equipment  runs  in  the  thousand  dollar  range  current- 
ly. Indeed,  for  less  than  $1800,  an  Amiga  animator  is  pret- 
ty much  in  the  uptown  range  of  desktop  video,  with  a  qual- 
ity VCR  and  a  quality  genlock.  Add  software,  imagination, 
and  patience.  Lots  of  patience. 

SERIOUS  GENLOCK 

Whether  you're  interested  in  animation  or  anything  else, 
if  you're  going  to  be  really  serious  about  your  videos,  you'll 
want  to  invest  the  extra  bucks  in  a  "broadcast  quality"  gen- 
lock. Broadcast  quality  means  just  that.  "Broadcast"  qual- 
ity. No  fudging.  Electronically,  the  more  expensive  units 
pass  along  exactly  what  they  get  without  changing  or  de- 
grading it.  To  get  broadcast  quality,  you  have  to  pay  for 
it.  The  going  rate  is  S600-S1600  or  so,  subject  to  change 
(probably  downward)  anytime. 

Most  of  the  higher  end  ones  also  perform  other  useful 
tricks  like  dissolves,  fades,  and  wipes.  These  add  motion 
to  your  editing,  bringing  your  productions  closer  to  the  kind 
of  work  you're  accustomed  to  seeing  in  professional  videos. 
For  just  home  videos,  though,  Denise's  birthday  party  will 
do  nicely  with  a  "regular"  genlock. 

If  your  interest  is  really  professional  use,  you'd  also  want 
to  move  up  to  a  more  professional  video  format  than  con- 
sumer-level VHS.  Higher  (more  expensive)  levels  of  video- 
taping equipment  will  permit  many  generations  of  dupli- 
cation before  picture  degradation  becomes  apparent.  For 
home  users— desktop  vidiots-the  limit  with  consumer 
equipment  will  probably  be  one  or  two  generations.  Some 
of  the  more  expensive  consumer  goods  will  allow  several, 
but  two  is  generally  sufficient  for  home  video  purposes. 

The  professional  end  of  video  has  many,  many  formats 
to  choose  from,  but  after  you  leave  the  VHS/Beta  families, 
you  have  to  multiply  the  money  several  times  for  only  a 
small  increase  in  quality.  At  some  point  in  that  progres- 
sion, too,  the  "desktop"  part  of  desktop  video  no  longer 
applies,  though  most  of  the  individual  items  strain  the  bank 
account  more  than  the  desk. 

THE  PROFESSIONAL  LEVEL 

For  a  look  at  the  more  professional  end  of  desktop  vid- 

Ahoy'.'s  AmigaUser     3? 


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•  Turn  your  Amiga,  into  a  yytottftaled  measuring 
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hours      with  amplitudes  from  millivolts  to  50  volte 

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eo,  all  put  together  in  one  system,  check  out  RGB  Compu- 
ter and  Video  Creations  (they  do  the  Deluxe  Help  series). 
The  company  showed  their  system  of  multiple  Super-VHS 
tape  decks,  audio  mixing  board,  and  a  flurry  of  interfacing 
boxes  at  both  Ami  EXPO  and  Siggraph. 

Controlled  by  a  sweetened-up  Amiga  2000  (REAL 
sweet!),  the  RGB  professional  Super-VHS  editing  system 
tops  out  at  $74,334  at  list  prices  for  the  whole  kaboodle. 
Don't  cringe— that's  small  change  for  a  major  video  pro- 
duction facility.  To  control  the  system  with  the  Amiga,  RGB 
is  producing  AmigaLink  (tentative  title)  software,  which 
manages  all  the  video  gizmos  in  the  system,  as  well  as  pro- 
viding a  base  for  animation,  post-production  effects,  fancy 
titling,  and  editing. 

Yes,  it  even  fits  on  a  desktop.  Use  a  sturdy  desk. 

You  don't  really  need  all  that  stuff  to  play  the  serious  vid- 
eo game,  even  as  a  professional.  For  one  thing,  some  of 
the  post-production  services  youli  want  are  available  in  most 
larger  cities  on  a  per-hour  or  per-job  basis,  so  you  might 
not  have  to  own  absolutely  all  the  equipment  in  the  pile 
to  get  a  toehold  in  the  market.  A  growing  number  of  com- 
panies even  offer  direct  support  of  the  Amigas.  Examples 
are  Video  Technics,  of  Atlanta,  whose  Amiga  support  is 
extensive,  and  Gossett  Graphics  of  Mountain  View,  CA. 
Both  companies  were  exhibitors  at  Siggraph. 

With  all  the  increasing  interest  in  doing  video  on  the  desk- 
top, the  willingness  of  consumers  to  venture  into  video  has 
not  escaped  the  attention  of  electronics  manufacturers.  Sony, 
a  major  producer  of  video  equipment  for  every  level  of  the 
market,  has  even  identified  and  targeted  a  new  level  of  vid- 
eo marketplace  which  it  calls  "Prosumers."  That's  a  consumer 
level  video  enthusiast  who  has  the  money  and  taste  for  "pro- 
fessional" equipment.  Of  course,  Sony  can't  invent  a  mar- 
ket. It  can  only  point  to  one  that  already  exists  and  provide 
a  convenient  name  to  call  it  by. 

Whether  you  call  it  "those  crazy  people  lugging  the  hea- 
vy battery  packs  everywhere,"  or  "prosumer  videography," 
or  "desktop  video,"  the  market  is  there,  and  the  Amiga  is 
a  staple  in  it.  It's  likely,  too,  that  the  Amiga  will  have- 
as  it  has  already  had— a  significant  effect  on  shaping  that 
market's  future. 

Spurred  by  the  Amiga,  the  cost  of  doing  video  is  decreas- 
ing. Until  the  Amiga,  for  example,  a  genlock  device  was 
hardly  something  the  consumer  could  afford.  It  was  the  Am- 
iga's under- $300,  A-1300  Genlock  that  paved  the  way  for 
the  inexpensive  units  now  on  the  market. 

That  wonderful  trend  continues.  Many  new  video  doo- 
dads were  shown  at  the  Midwest  AmiEXPO  in  Chicago, 
where  it  was  apparent  that  many  people  attended  especial- 
ly for  the  Amiga  video  tricks. 

OH,  YOU  WANT  MORE! 

So  how  much  does  it  cost  to  get  into  desktop  video?  A 
few  hundred  to  a  few  hundred  thousand  dollars.  As  much 
as  you  want  to  spend,  or  as  little  as  zip! 

Of  course,  the  Law  of  Spiraling  Expenditures  applies, 
whether  your  interest  is  computers,  photography,  desktop 
video,  or  antique  yacht  collecting.  No  matter  how  little  you 
can  get  started  for,  once  you're  hooked,  you'll  find  won- 
derful opportunities  to  spend  lots  more  money.  D 

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Ahoyl's  AmigaUser     33 


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IENTIERTMNMIENT 


ic 


BIRDS  'N  BEES 

(Disk;  $14.95) 
INTERACTION 

(3  disks;  $99.95) 
THE  LOVE  QUEST 

(disk;  $44.95) 

All  distributed  by  lirtraCorp 

When  it  comes  to  love,  education  is 
always  fun.  Few  subjects  grab  the  at- 
tention so  quickly,  or  engage  interest 
as  predictably,  as  the  search  for  sex- 
ual knowledge  and  romantic  love.  This 
trio  of  software  programs  is  aimed  at 
the  libido,  but  like  a  wistful  maiden 
who  enters  her  man's  heart  through  his 
stomach,  these  titillate  the  heart  by  first 
tantalizing  the  mind. 

The  three  programs  couldn't  be  more 
different.  One  is  a  tutor  for  youngsters 
who  need  to  know  the  facts  of  life;  the 
second  is  an  exploration  of  your  own 
sexuality;  and  the  third  actually  puts 
romantic  hopefuls  in  touch  with  other 
people  searching  for  happiness. 

Birds  NBees  is  a  straightforward  ed- 
ucational program  that  lets  parents  con- 
trol the  child's  access  to  sensitive  parts 
of  the  subject  matter.  Parents  input  the 
age  and  gender  of  each  child.  From  that 
point,  the  information  presented  is  lim- 
ited according  to  the  parameters  estab- 
lished. 

The  main  menu  offers  six  options: 
Instructions,  Lessons,  Questions  & 
Answers,  Dictionary,  Parental  Options, 
and  Exit  Program. 

Questions  &  Answers  presents  a 
question,  then  displays  its  correct  an- 
swer. This  is  a  good  study  tool  for  gen- 
eral facts-of-life  information. 

The  Dictionary  section  contains  sex- 
ual and  medical  terms  appropriate  for 
the  indicated  age  level,  along  with  pro- 
nunciation guides  and  definitions  of 
each  entry. 

The  lessons  are  the  backbone  of  the 
program.  Subjects  available  for  study 
are  Development  (the  sexual  develop- 
ment of  the  body);  Personal  Safety 
(warnings  about  improper  advances, 
and  safety  tips  for  avoiding  molestation 
or  rape),  Reproduction,  Abortion, 
Birth  Control,  and  Sexually  Transmit- 
ted Diseases. 

The  presentation  is  not  elaborate. 
The  child  reads  several  screens  of  text 

34     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


LOVE  ON 
THE  AMIGA 

By  Joyce  Worley 

on  the  lesson  topic,  then  completes  a 
short  quiz.  Incorrect  answers  prompt 
a  text  redisplay,  with  pertinent  data 
highlighted  for  review.  Then  the  test  is 
given  again.  This  continues  until  ev- 
ery question  is  answered  correctly.  A 
congratulatory  message  flashes  on- 
screen, and  the  next  lesson  begins. 

The  Parental  Options  portion  estab- 
lishes controls  for  each  child,  and  re- 
quires use  of  a  password.  The  program 
comes  set  to  respond  to  "Intracorp,"  but 
urges  parents  to  establish  their  own  se- 
cret code.  There  are  three  levels  of 
study.  The  first  contains  very  basic  in- 
formation. Level  two  should  be  used 
only  after  the  child  has  completed  the 
first  lessons.  Level  three  is  for  children 
who've  completed  the  first  two  sections. 
After  instituting  these  guidelines,  the 
parent  decides  if  the  child  is  ready  to 
study  the  abortion,  birth  control,  or 
sexually  transmitted  diseases  sections. 

This  is  not  a  fancy  program.  Text  is 
presented  with  no  embellishments  or 
illustration.  But,  information  is  presen- 
ted in  a  sensitive,  open-minded  way. 
Treatment  of  controversial  subjects  like 
birth  control  and  abortion  very  care- 
fully includes  the  pros  and  cons,  with- 
out making  any  moral  decisions.  It's  a 
nice  way  for  a  computer-using  child  to 
learn  some  basic  facts  in  a  private  dig- 
nified manner. 

Interaction  is  an  adults-only  program 
that  allows  you  to  "explore  your  love 
and  relationships."  An  exhaustive  list 
of  over  100  very  adult  sexually  orien- 
ted questions  explore  the  individual's 
experience  and  preferences.  This  is  def- 
initely not  a  party  piece;  the  informa- 
tion generated  is  quite  personal,  so  ev- 
ery survey  is  protected  by  its  own  pass- 
word. 

There  are  two  ways  to  use  the  infor- 
mation gathered  this  way.  The  program 
delivers  a  complete  analysis  of  the  us- 
er's sexual  style,  sexual  personality, 
sexual  behavior,  special  sexual  beha- 


vior, and  sexual  dysfunctions.  The  us- 
er may  also  choose  to  see  only  a  par- 
tial analysis  on  any  one  of  these  sub- 
jects. 

The  analysis  spews  back  the  respon- 
ses along  with  commentary  drawn 
from  an  impressive  list  of  reference 
works.  In  fact,  statements  are  refer- 
enced with  numbers  that  coincide  with 
the  bibliography  contained  in  the  man- 
ual, so  the  user  can  do  extra  reading 
if  desired. 

The  questioning  procedure  is  actu- 
ally an  interactive/branching  program. 
That  is,  answers  given  to  some  ques- 
tions cause  the  program  to  produce  ad- 
ditional queries.  This  customizes  the 
test  for  each  person.  The  analyses  are 
similarly  individualized.  A  large  data- 
base of  psychological  information  con- 
tains text  blocks  which  combine  dif- 
ferently for  each  analysis,  and  infor- 
mation from  the  survey  inserted  into 
the  text  further  personalizes  the  re- 
ports. 

Users  can  also  see  this  personal  data 
compared  with  some  sexual  statistics, 
to  learn  how  their  own  personal  tastes 
rank  with  others.  A  third  option  mea- 
sures the  responses  of  two  users  in  a 
sexual  compatibility  report. 

The  analyses  provided  are  meant  to 
be  taken  seriously,  and  they  are  rooted 
in  some  fine  psychological  research. 
But  the  folks  at  IntraCorp  urge  users 
to  consult  professional  advisors  for  ad- 
ditional information;  this  program  can- 
not take  the  place  of  a  trained  counse- 
lor, though  it  may  provide  some  valu- 
able self-awareness. 

Tfie  Love  Quest  uses  a  similar  for- 
mat to  explore  personalities,  then  goes 
one  step  further  by  actually  attempt- 
ing to  pair  compatible  individuals,  as 
a  sort  of  high-tech  matchmaker. 

The  main  menu  accesses  onscreen 
instructions,  the  Love  Quest  profile,  an 
analysis  of  the  completed  profile,  a 
compatibility  study  between  users,  and 
the  love  quest  code. 

Each  user  enters  a  name  and  (if  de- 
sired) a  password  to  keep  the  profile 
private.  Questions  start  with  gender  and 
sexual  preference,  then  explore  the  per- 
sonality and  sensual  nature  of  the  user. 

The  questions  are  lighthearted  com- 


EtENTERTfllNMENTllC 


pared  to  those  in  Interaction  (although 
there  is  some  overlap),  so  this  could 
be  used  in  an  adult's  party  or  social 
gathering.  The  personal  analysis  scores 
the  individual  in  10  categories,  mea- 
suring sensuality  and  openness  in  per- 
centage points.  The  compatibility  check 
uses  the  same  parameters,  then  displays 
each  person's  "score"  on  a  bar  chart. 
The  computer  will  also  search  its  rec- 
ords of  all  the  completed  surveys  on 
the  disk,  to  select  a  matching  person- 
ality. This  last  option  may  be  good  for 
some  laughs  at  your  next  party. 

The  real  paydirt  is  the  Love  Quest. 
A  code  number  is  created  from  infor- 
mation input  in  the  survey,  which  can 
be  transmitted  back  to  IntraCorp  for 
entry  into  their  data  bank.  This  code 
number  is  matched  against  the  others 
registered  there.  The  purchaser  can  re- 


WPtOfie  VOUR  LOW  fiND  MOONSHIPS 


WWIVSIS  ar,d  COMmriBJUIY  MQOlut 


ceive  three  free  contact  names  drawn 
from  the  bank,  and  additional  contacts 
for  $15  each.  Some  folks  included  in 
this  bank  of  users  permit  their  names 
and  addresses  to  be  released.  Others 
may  be  contacted  through  IntraCorp 
mail  forwarding,  a  service  that  costs 
$10  to  set  up,  and  $2  for  each  piece  of 
mail. 

The  Love  Quest  National  Data  Base 
was  originally  started  for  respondents 
to  a  survey  done  by  Playgirl  Magazine 
a  couple  of  years  ago.  Since  that  time, 
purchasers  of  the  program  have  been 
added.  IntraCorp  won't  guarantee  the 
size  of  the  databank,  though  company 
sources  say  there  are  currently  about 
2000  names.  Naturally,  IntraCorp 
makes  no  guarantee  of  success  in  the 
search  for  love,  and  assumes  no  liabil- 
ity for  the  consequences. 

The  three  programs  share  more  than 
their  subject  matter.  All  three  were  ori- 
ginally designed  for  other  systems,  and 
their  manuals  reflect  this.  More  to  the 
point,  the  translation  of  the  programs 
to  Amiga  format  did  not  include  any 
updating  to  make  use  of  the  capabili- 
ties of  the  newer  machine.  There  are 
no  graphics,  except  for  simple  title 
screens,  and  the  mouse  interface  is 
hardly  used.  It's  a  pity  the  company 
didn't  make  a  few  changes  to  modern- 
ize the  programs. 

However,  the  psychological  research 
that  underlies  all  three  is  very  solid. 
The  database  of  users,  though,  is  of 
questionable  value,  since  many  of  the 
older  entries  may  now  be  outdated. 
Some  people  may  have  since  changed 
addresses  and  phone  numbers,  as  well 
as  their  minds  about  this  kind  of  in- 
troduction. But  computer  matchmak- 
ing services  intrigue  most  curious  peo- 
ple, and  this  is  one  that  is  easily  ac- 
cessible by  stay-at-home  eomputerists. 

Most  important  of  all,  the  informa- 
tion contained  in  each  is  timeless.  Birds 
N  Bees  takes  the  place  of  the  sex  in- 
formation manuals  kids  used  to  comb. 
Interaction  is  a  very  serious  tool  for 
examining  your  own  feelings.  The  Love 
Quest  is  a  cute  compatibility  tester  for 
social  gatherings,  and  puts  adventur- 
ous users  in  touch  with  each  other  if 
they  choose  to  explore  this  avenue. 

When  you  come  right  down  to  it, 
that's  a  whole  lot  of  love  on  disk! 

IntraCorp,  14160  SW  139th  Court, 
Miami,  FL  33186  (phone:  305-252- 
9040). 


But,  hey— how  about  that  box  design! 

PHANTASM 

Exocet/ Scorpion 
Amiga  with  S12K 
Disk;  $34.95 

There's  a  lot  of  originality  and  ima- 
gination lavished  on  this  one-player 
combat  flight  simulator.  Too  bad  the 
publisher  squandered  most  of  the  crea- 
tivity on  the  package  carton,  leaving 
very  little  for  the  actual  game. 

According  to  the  briefing  on  the  box, 
the  player  is  a  drifter  who  is  suddenly 
whisked  into  the  future  and  placed  in 
command  of  the  HMS  Pegasus.  This 
powerful  fighter  plane  cruises  over  the 
surface  of  the  moon  and  destroys  eight 
"re-constitutions"  found  there.  Natur- 
ally, there  are  plenty  of  enemy  ships 
around  to  prevent  the  Pegasus  from 
achieving  this  goal. 

The  program  depicts  the  relatively 
featureless  moonscape  in  first-person 
perspective.  Objects  grow  larger  as  the 
craft  approaches  them  and  disappear 
when  the  Pegasus  shoots  past.  The  art- 
work is  reminiscent  of  Battlezone,  ex- 
cept that  the  objects  look  more  solid 
because  of  the  Amiga's  ability  to  fill 
large  areas  with  color.  Keystroke  com- 
mands allow  the  player  to  see  the  areas 
to  the  left  or  right  without  changing  ac- 
tual direction  of  movement. 

The  control  panel  borders  the  view 
screen  on  three  sides.  The  pilot  can  see 
the  current  status  of  shields,  fuel,  boo- 
sters, anti-missile  blaster,  and  height 
at  a  glance.  A  cylinder  represents  each 
of  these  factors.  The  cylinders  grow  or 
shrink  to  reflect  changes.  The  panel 
also  includes  a  compass,  a  radarscope 
to  pintpoint  the  ship's  position  in  the 

Featured  This  Month: 

Love  on  the  Amiga 34 

Phantasm 35 

Powerityx 36 

Questran  II 38 

Crazy  Cart 39 

Ahoyl's  AmigaUser     35 


ElENTERTfllNMENfBHl 


RENTER  m... 

[SELECT  COICLICT  AREA 


Phantasm  depicts  the  moonscape  in  first  person  perspective.  The  control  panel  borders  the  view  screen  on  three  sides. 


sector,  an  automatic  directional  find- 
er, a  missile  counter,  and  a  few  other 
little  gauges  and  meters. 

Players  control  the  Pegasus  with  ei- 
ther the  keyboard  or  a  combination  of 
keyboard  and  joystick  order  entry.  In 
the  latter  case,  the  joystick  governs 
speed,  left-right  movement  and  the  la- 
ser gun. 

The  control  scheme  inadequately 
handles  altitude.  It  uses  the  "H"  key  to 
increase  the  ship's  height  and  the  "G" 
key  to  lower  it.  This  system  is  not  only 
awkward  to  use,  but  it  does  a  very  poor 
job  of  simulating  the  experience  of  fly- 
ing a  futuristic  fighter  plane. 

Aside  from  the  lack  of  originality, 
that  is  the  biggest  problem  with  Phan- 
tasm. It  just  doesn't  feel  like  a  super- 
sonic fighter,  and  that  is  a  mortal  sin 
for  a  computer  flight  simulator.  The 
Pegasus  is  more  like  a  tank  than  some- 
thing capable  of  zooming  through  the 
atmosphere. 

A  tutorial  mode  makes  up  for  ex- 
tremely scanty  documentation.  The 
computerist  can  run  through  the  game 
without  worrying  about  getting  killed. 
A  special  feature  identifies  each  object 
as  it  appears  on  the  screen.  It  is  strong- 
ly recommended  that  gamers  try  at 
least  one  round  at  this  setting  before 
proceeding  to  any  of  the  three  progres- 
sively more  difficult  levels  of  play. 

Like  too  many  British-designed 
games,  Phantasm  has  little  that  cannot 
be  found  in  earlier  programs  of  the 
same  general  type.  It  is  competent 
work,  but  nothing  more. 

Exocet,  c/o  Scorpion,  19  Harbor 
Drive,  Lake  Hopatcong,  NJ  07848 
(phone:  201-663-0202).  -Arnie  Katz 

36    Ahoy'.'s  AmigaUser 


POWER  STYX 

DigiTek 

Amiga  with  51 2K 

Disk;  $34.95 

Hardware  grows  more  powerful  and 
programmers  discover  amazing  new 
implementation  techniques  every  day. 
The  newest  software  titles  inevitably 
make  last  year's  award-winners  look 
and  sound  feeble  by  comparison. 

Yet  despite  all  the  progress,  all  the 
improvements,  the  classic  games  en- 
dure. Today's  versions  have  better  au- 
diovisual trimmings,  and  the  rules  are 
often  more  sophisticated,  but  the  core 
of  the  game  remains  the  same.  For  ex- 
ample, Blockbuster  is  a  direct  descen- 
dent  of  Breakout,  and  Into  the  Eagle's 
Nest  features  essentially  the  same  play 
action  as  Castle  Hblfenstein  or  even  the 
trailblazing  coin-op  Berzerk. 

Fans  of  Qix,  the  classic  arcade  and 
video  game,  will  be  in  seventh  heaven 
when  they  behold  Power  Styx.  This 
mind  and  body  challenge  has  a  play- 


mechanic  very  similar  to  its  inspiration, 
but  the  graphics  and  music  are  on  an- 
other, higher  plane. 

The  European  design  team  has  trans- 
formed the  sparse,  drab  look  of  the  Qix 
playfield  into  a  visual  symphony  of 
multicolored,  kinetic  images.  The  driv- 
ing beat  of  the  rock  soundtrack,  an- 
other delightful  addition,  reinforces  the 
game's  high  excitement  level. 

A  joystick  operates  the  diamond- 
shaped  cursor  in  this  game  of  territor- 
ial acquisition.  Initially,  the  rectangu- 
lar playfield  is  blank  except  for  a  line 
of  brightly  colored  rectangles  which 
snakes  around  the  featureless  display. 

The  player  guides  a  pulsing  diamond 
along  the  edge  of  the  rectangle  with  the 
joystick  and  presses  the  action  button 
to  change  its  direction  of  movement. 
The  player  steers  the  symbol  to  create 
a  path  that  encloses  a  portion  of  the 
screen.  One  side  of  the  resulting  poly- 
gon must  be  part  of  the  perimeter  of 
the  playfield  or  another,  previously 


The  play- 
field  of 
Powerstyx 
is  a  visual 
symphony 
of  multicol- 
ored kinetic 
images.  The 
driving  beat 
of  the  rock 
soundtrack 
reinforces 
the  game's 
high  excite- 
ment level. 


20TH 
.1968-1^ 


HEB 


■  \W  a 


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mmmxmmm 


ibicsavsui  Prices 


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dcuils  N1CDCA«8M231 


drawn  area. 

Creating  an  area  reveals  a  piece  of 
the  full-screen  illustration  hidden  be- 
hind the  playfield.  The  entire  drawing 
appears  as  soon  as  a  large  enough  por- 
tion of  the  playfield's  surface  is  cov- 
ered. The  solitaire  gamer  can  examine 
the  illustration  before  advancing  to  the 
next  round  of  play. 

The  whirling  and  swooping  line  of 
geometric  shapes  poses  the  greatest 
threat  to  the  three  lives  with  which  the 
gamer  begins  play.  The  rovers  destroy 
the  cursor  if  they  touch  while  the  com- 
puterist  is  fencing  in  a  new  area. 

Cowering  at  the  edge  of  the  playfield 
would  be  safe,  except  for  the  deadly 
pursuers  who  zip  along  the  lines  and 
eliminate  the  cursor  on  contact.  The 
gamer  earns  100  bonus  points  when- 
ever one  of  the  line-runners  is  trapped 
on  the  edge  of  a  newly  completed  poly- 
gon. Unfortunately,  these  pests  regen- 
erate quickly,  so  action  is  constant  un- 
til the  round  ends. 

Power  Styx  also  introduces  bonus 
and  penalty  objects  which  float  across 
the  playfield  from  left  to  right.  If  the 
player  catches  one  of  these  items  be- 
fore it  leaves  the  screen,  he  reaps  the 
reward  or  endures  the  adverse  effect. 
The  consequences  range  from  an 
instant  win  to  the  loss  of  a  cursor. 
Other  possible  results  include  faster 
cursor  movement  and  extra  points. 

Abstract  action-strategy  games  for 
the  Amiga  are  about  as  plentiful  as 
snowballs  in  the  Amazon  jungle,  so  a 
beautifully  produced  product  like 
Power  Styx  is  especially  welcome.  It 
enhances  the  play-mechanic  Qix  fans 
adore  with  the  art  and  sound  of  today's 
discriminating  computerists  demand. 

DigiTek,  Inc.,  10415  N.  Florida  Ave., 
Suite  410,  Tampa,  FL  33612  (phone: 
813-933-8023). 

-Arnie  Katz  &  BUI  Kunkel 

Circle  #223  on  Reader  Service  Card 

QUESTRON  II 

Strategic  Simulations 
Amiga  with  512K 
Disk;  $49.95 

The  stirring  climax  of  Questran  did 
not  end  the  menace  posed  by  The  Evil 
Book  of  Magic.  Although  the  villain- 
ous wizard  Mantor  met  defeat  in  that 
fantasy  roleplaying  adventure,  the  book 
is  indestructible. 

In  Questron  II,  designed  by  John  and 
Charles  Dougherty  with  Westwood  As- 

38     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


Enclosing 
an  area  of 
the  Power- 
styx  screen 
reveals  a 
piece  of  the 
full-screen 
illustration 
hidden  be- 


ammB*   :> 

.-■"-— —     mmmr— 


w.i  -,  r; playfield- 


sociates,  the  good  wizard  Mesron  sends 
the  player's  character  into  the  past  to 
prevent  the  creation  of  the  evil  tome. 
Only  by  confronting  the  ultimate  evil 
of  Mantor  can  the  computerist  stop  six 
mad  sorcerers  from  completing  The 
Evil  Book  of  Magic. 


The  adventurer  gains  experience 
while  gathering  the  items  needed  for 
the  assault  on  Mantor's  well-fortified 
lair.  By  fighting  the  60  monsters  which 
inhabit  this  dark  realm  and  scooping 
up  treasure,  the  character  earns  enough 
points  to  rise  in  ability  level.  This,  in 


Speed: 
I  Fastest 
-  Faster 
■-  Hornal 
I  Slower 


lb  J,  Quest 


Inventory 

Loot 

Magic 


Use  I ten 
Wear 
c Xanine 


The  Quest- 
ron com- 
mand con- 
trol setup, 
Us  most  im- 
portant de- 
sign im- 
provement 
over  the  ba- 
sk Ultima 
game  sys- 
tem, means 
highlighting 
a  choice 
from  a  list. 


Time-hopping  has  the  unfortunate 
side  effect  of  stripping  the  character  of 
all  the  abilities  and  possessions  won 
with  so  much  difficulty  in  Questron. 
The  computerist  begins  this  perilous 
quest  in  a  weak  and  virtually  destitute 
condition. 


turn,  increases  one  or  more  of  the 
hero's  key  characteristics. 

The  gamer  needs  as  much  native  tal- 
ent and  equipment  as  possible  for  the 
final  showdown.  Mantor's  relentless  at- 
tacks burn  up  an  unbelievable  number 
of  hit  points. 

The  draw- 
ings of  the 
automobiles 
in  Crazy 
Cars  are 
exquisitely 
detailed, 
and  the  im- 
ages hold 
together 
well  even 
during  hair- 
pin turns. 


□  ENTERTAINMENT  1 C 


It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the 
Doughertys'  games  diverge  from  Lord 
British's  Ultima.  The  original  Questran 
utilized  the  Ultima  system  under  li- 
cense from  Origin  Systems,  but  the 
thematic  content  of  the  two  series 
couldn't  be  more  different  from  each 
other!  Lord  British  has  become  more 
philosophical  with  each  Ultima,  but 
Questron  and  Questron  II  are  totally 
devoted  to  sword  and  spell  battles. 

The  graphics  in  Questron  //are  more 
varied  and  attractive  than  in  the  first 
installment  of  the  saga.  It  uses  three 
different  screen  presentations  to  follow 
the  hero's  struggle  to  rid  the  world  of 
The  Book  of  Evil  Magic. 

Colorful  terrain  maps  chart  travels 
through  the  threatening  countryside; 
overhead  perspective  views  follow  the 
character  into  towns  and  castles,  and 
a  first-person  display  depicts  excursions 
into  the  creature-filled  dungeon.  When 
the  character  prowls  the  passageways 
of  one  of  the  underground  mazes,  the 
screen  provides  a  secondary,  overhead 
view  to  help  the  computerist  keep  his 
bearings. 

The  Questron  command  control  set- 
up, its  most  important  design  improve- 
ment over  the  basic  Ultima  game-sys- 
tem, remains  a  pleasure  to  use.  The 
computerist  highlights  a  choice  from 
a  list  of  options  printed  on  the  left  side 
of  the  screen  and  confirms  it  by  press- 
ing the  left  mouse  button. 

Exploration  and  combat  dominate 
Question  II.  Puzzles,  which  are  vio- 
lently disliked  and  fervendy  adored  by 
equal  numbers  of  computerists,  are  vir- 
tually absent.  Though  Questron  II  is 
likely  to  entertain  most  fantasy  adven- 
ture gamers,  it  is  essentially  good  for 
novices.  There  are  a  few  bottlenecks 
to  stall  progress  toward  the  inevitable 
slugfest  with  Mantor. 

Questron  II  is  not  the  most  sophis- 
ticated interactive  adventure  on  the 
market.  The  story  furnishes  a  good  ra- 
tionale for  the  hacking  and  spellcast- 
ing,  but  Questron  II  does  not  grapple 
with  weighty  issues  or  arouse  deep 
emotions. 

It's  a  sword  and  sorcery  epic  that 
crackles  with  combat  action  and  nar- 
row escapes  from  grisly  death.  Go 
elsewhere  for  a  demanding  test  of  ad- 
venturing skill,  but  visit  the  land  of 
Questron  if  you  want  a  rousing  good 
time. 


Strategic  Simulations,  1046  North 
Rengstorff  Ave. ,  Mountain  View,  CA 
94043  (phone:  415-964-1353). 

— Arnie  Katz 

Circle  #226  on  Reader  Service  Card 

CRAZY  CARS 

Titus  Software 
Amiga  with  512K 
Disks;  $39.99 

Six  different  courses  comprise  the 
American  Cross  Country  Prestige  Cars 
Race  as  depicted  in  Crazy  Cars.  The 
solitaire  driver  begins  the  first  section, 
Florida,  with  a  Mercedes  560.  Com- 
pleting the  courses  before  time  runs  out 
earns  drivers  better  cars,  including  the 
Porsche  911,  Lamborghini  Countach, 
or  even  a  Ferrari  GTO. 

Each  section  of  the  course  is  raced 
against  the  time  clock  located  at  the  top 
of  the  screen.  Finishing  before  it  reach- 
es zero  allows  the  computerist  to  pro- 
gress to  the  next  leg  of  the  journey. 
Collisions  with  other  cars  and  running 
off  the  road  on  turns  are  the  main  ob- 
stacles to  crossing  the  finish  line  in  time. 

The  control  system  is  extremely  sim- 
ple. Pushing  the  joystick  forward  is  like 
stepping  on  the  gas  pedal,  and  pulling 
it  straight  back  applies  the  brake.  Push- 
ing the  joystick  to  the  left  or  right 
moves  the  car  in  the  corresponding  di- 
rection on  the  track.  The  action  but- 
ton is  used  only  to  start  each  segment 
of  the  transcontinental  trip. 

Olivier  Corviole's  graphics  are  a  lit- 
tle unusual,  more  impressionistic  than 
realistic.  The  quality,  though,  is  only 
middle-of-the-pack  compared  to  other 
programs  of  the  same  general  type. 

Each  section  of  the  mega-course  has 
its  scenery.  For  example,  the  "Florida" 
section  features  such  familiar  sights  as 
Disney  World. 

The  player's  car  occupies  the  center 
of  the  screen.  The  program  shows  the 
action  in  modified  first-person  perspec- 
tive, from  a  point  directly  behind  the 
racer.  The  drawings  of  the  automobiles 
are  exquisitely  detailed,  and  the  imag- 
es hold  together  well  even  during  hair- 
pin turns  and  roller  coaster  bumps. 
This  has  often  been  a  problem  with 
other  driving  games. 

The  question  veteran  gamers  may 
ask  about  Crazy  Cars  is  whether  it  is 
crazy  enough  after  all  these  years  of 
driving  games.  Eric  Caen's  program- 
ming is  excellent,  but  the  quality  of  his 
design  work  is  open  to  question.  Cra- 


Mext  month  in  our 

Entertainment 
Software  Sections 


AMIGA  GAMES 
OF  1988 


zy  Cars  lacks  the  essential  spark  of  or- 
iginality which  would  elevate  it  above 
the  driving  games  which  preceded  it 
to  market.  Those  who  don't  have  an 
auto  racing  program  for  their  Amiga 
should  definitely  consider  Crazy  Cars, 
but  it  is  otherwise  recommended  pri- 
marily to  those  who  are  especially  fond 
of  driving  contests. 

Titus  Software,  20432  Corisco  Street, 
Chatsworth,  CA  91311  (phone:  818-709- 
3692).  -Arnie  Katz 

Circle  #230  on  Reader  Service  Card 


Transform  your  Amiga  into  a  Special  Pro- 
grams &  Operations  Computer!  Your  family 
can  interact  and  compete  with  SP0C  in  over 
35  highly  entertaining  ways.  Contains  edu- 
cational and  demo  sections  to  show  off  your 
Amiga.  Your  family  will  run  this  disk  more 
than  all  your  other  entertainment  software 
combined  or  your  money  back. 

You  also  get  a  disk  from  SP0CPD,  our  best 
of  public  domain-great  programs,  reworked 
to  run  smoothly  and  easily.  Both  disks  come 
with  plain  label  and  compact  code-you  do 
not  pay  for  copy  protection  and  fancy  pack- 
aging. All  this  plus  a  free  gift  (while  they  last) 
for  $25.00  to: 

SP0C 

Box  299 

Kiowa,  OK  74553 


Circle  #221  on  Reader  Service  Card 


Ahoyl's  AmigaUser     39 


B 


I5XI5C  1=11.1= 


UC 


Software  and  Applications  for  the  Small  Businessman 

By  Ted  Salamone 


elcome  to  another  edition  of  Exec  File. 
This  issue  well  conclude  the  Software  Se- 
lection Criteria  Guideline,  and  discuss 
several  graaphically  oriented  packages. 

To  pick  up  our  story  where  we  left  off. . .  Section  HI  of 
the  Selection  Criteria  covers  Documentation,  or  the  lack 
thereof.  To  start,  simple  counts  are  tallied  for  total  number 
of  manuals  and  total  number  of  pages  per  manual.  Exist- 
ence of  tables  of  contents  and  indices  are  likewise  exam- 
ined; provision  of  sectionalized  tabbing  and  a  pullout  ref- 
erence card  (for  quick,  accurate  referencing)  is  checked. 

Inclusion  of  a  comment  (bingo)  card  for  developer  feed- 
back, appendices,  a  glossary,  and  a  bibliography  complete 
the  Yes/No  portion  of  the  Documentation  Section. 

The  type  of  binding  is  explored  because  some  are  more 
user  friendly  than  others  (looseleaf);  some  make  it  difficult 
to  read  while  your  hands  are  otherwise  occupied  (glued  like 
a  paperback  novel);  and  others  make  updates  difficult  (spi- 
ral bound).  Unfortunately,  the  negative  characteristics  men- 
tioned are  not  limited  to  just  the  types  mentioned— each 
type  of  binding,  other  than  looseleaf,  generally  has  several 
problems.  Unless  the  looseleaf  has  nonstandard  hole  punch- 
es, it  is  the  best  for  overall  ease  of  use. 

The  quality  of  a  program,  and  often  the  overall  support 
provided  by  a  company,  can  be  determined  by  the  layout 
and  print  characteristics  of  the  manual.  A  photocopied  man- 
ual does  not  bode  well,  and  may  even  indicate  "bootleg"; 
dot  matrix  indicates  a  small  shop  with  severely  limited  re- 
sources. The  same  can  be  said  for  daisy  wheel  or  typed 
materials. 

Up  one  level  lies  laser  printed  documentation.  While  this 
is  not  truly  professional,  it  does  indicate  a  credible  level 
of  resource,  particularly  if  the  documentation  is  well  laid 
out- graphically  speaking.  The  highest  level,  naturally,  is 
typeset.  Generally,  the  higher  the  documentation  is  on  this 
hierarchy,  the  higher  the  price  of  the  software  involved. 

You  should  rate  the  documentation  for  severity  and  fre- 
quency of  typographic  errors,  note  the  degree  of  error  mes- 
sage explanations,  and  examine  the  depth  and  number  of 
sample  exercises/tutorials. 

Use  of  illustrations,  screen  dumps,  and  sample  print- 
outs/reports usually  indicates  a  high  degree  of  functional- 
ity and  documentation  usefulness.  The  documentation 
should  also  be  rated  on  the  basis  of  its  installation/setup 
instructions,  its  usefulness  as  a  reference  guide,  its  overall 
clarity,  and  its  organization. 

While  this  list  may  seem  a  bit  compulsive,  the  best  de- 
cisions are  made  when  fully  informed.  Keep  that  in  mind 
throughout  the  entire  evaluation  process. 

40     Ahoy!'s  AmigaUser 


Section  IV  is  just  a  list  of  special  features  or  functions 
not  covered  under  one  of  the  more  specific  headings.  Think 
of  it  as  a  catch-all  basin  where  you  can  even  list  general 
drawbacks.  No  one  said  features  or  functions  have  to  be 
positive,  especially  if  they  are  poorly  implemented. 

Customer  support  gets  scoped  out  in  Section  V.  Does 
the  dealer  provide  support;  does  the  vendor;  do  both?  Is 
there  telephone  support,  and  if  so,  is  it  an  800  number, 
a  toll  call,  or  collect? 

The  evaluation  prompts  you  to  list  the  hours  and  days 
of  support  service  and  the  extent  of  the  warranty.  If  the  pro- 
gram is  copy  protected,  is  a  backup  provided  free  with  pur- 
chase, or  is  it  available  from  the  vendor  (etc.)  for  a  fee? 
If  so,  how  much? 

Are  updates  available?  What  is  the  program's  update  his- 
tory, and  how  much  do  they  cost?  In  a  related  vein,  what 
is  the  defective  product  policy,  return  to  the  dealer  or  to 
the  vendor?  How  long  do  you  have? 

All  these  are  very  important  issues.  Which  ones  are  most 
important  for  you  depend  upon  your  purchase  and  locational 
circumstances;  that  is,  mail  order  versus  computer  store- 
front purchase  or  3  stores  in  2  blocks  versus  75  miles  from 
the  nearest  dealer,  etc. 

Section  VI  asks  a  few  questions  about  training.  What  type 
is  available,  if  any;  classroom,  on-site,  videotape,  etc.?  Is 
it  technically  or  end  user  oriented?  How  many  free  hours 
are  offered,  if  any?  What  is  the  cost  of  additional  training 
(beyond  the  free  hours  if  available)  or  basic  training  if  there 
is  no  free  ride?  What  types  of  learning  materials  are  pro- 
vided—manuals, audiotapes,  etc.? 

The  final  section  covers  the  rating  process.  Just  remem- 
ber, any  system  you  are  comfortable  with  can  be  implemen- 
ted in  lieu  of  the  one  described  here. 

Basically,  the  scores  are  summed  by  categories  such  as 
command/input  structure,  help  screens,  support  and  spe- 
cial features,  etc.  Even  these  categories  can  be  adjusted  to 
reflect  areas  of  more  import.  The  overall  sum  is  then 
matched  against  a  chart  to  determine  level  of  satisfaction 
with  the  program. 

There  are  still  a  few  copies  of  the  Selection  Criteria  avail- 
able for  $9.95.  Send  check  or  money  order  to  the  address 
at  the  end  of  this  article  and  mark  the  outside  of  the  en- 
velope "SSG"  for  faster  service. 

TIPS  II  TRICKS 

From  the  general  to  the  specific: 

1.  For  readers  who  are  interested  in  video  and  who  can 
afford  the  best,  check  out  the  Sony  still  video  cameras.  They 
produce  higher  quality  images  than  the  more  traditional 


kB 


InterComputing  Inc. 

2 1 00  M.  Hwy  360.  Suite  2101 
Grand  Prairie,  TX  75050-1015 

Phone:  1-800-531-4747 

(in  TX  call  1-214-983-3500) 


We  Ore  in  business  since  I9B4: 
»(  support  Ihe  AMIGA  since  1995; 
ond  «  »i  t|m  you  the  Pest  soviet  possifc  ol  prieti  Iht  other  'tfetowil-rAjces'  *on1  *e  ■ 
Please  col  frx  a  complete  feting  our  products ! 


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J29.CC 
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1J950 

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moo 

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HARDWARE 

8-Up  Memorycard   OK 
Amijolive  A  500 
Amijo  Lwe  A  2000 
fcnigolivr  A  1000 
D»ji  W.  10  N15C 
Oiqi  fn  Adopter 
ECE-Udi 
Eosyl  500 
Eosyl  1000 
Eosyl  2000 
FOolo-  tO  Drive 
FickerFbtr 
FickerMoster 
frome  Grabber 

Gen  One  Genlock 

HonJFromt  SCSI  Cofd 
Imprirrt 

tfniscrbe  20B3  ST-506 
Mnbcrbe  70UB  SCSI 
Uniscrbe  42U0  SCSI 
Wsubisni  AIM  1J71A 
Ponosonic  1*10  Video  Kit  259.00 
Perfect  Sound  59.50 

Perfect  Vision        mm 

Perfect  Won  Cob  Setter  KM 
Potsroid  Pottle  col 

Pro  Cw  375,00 

Processor  Acceterol«       149.50 
SoundScape  AudijdiCjIiw   79.50 
SoundScape  Midi  hlerfoct  42.50 
Slorbccfd  0  KB  AID00    239.00 
Starboard  0  KB  A  500 
Starboard  SCSI  Module 
Super  On 
Supro  2(W  H** 
Supra  Uodem  2400  Baud  149.00 
Supro  SCSI  Cord  col 

x-sr*rs  m       am 

f        Antivirus  IV 
Sure  S  rt  detect  a  Virus  and  get  it  ol 

your  System.  Bui  more  important  it 
obis  you  lo  prevent  damage  by 
bo:bnq  up  your  Bool-tracks ! 
Background  mode  MWtd  ! 


New  in 

VIDEO  /  GRAPHICS 


GRAPHICS  /  VIDEO 

Aegis  tamolor  /  inoges 


Intro  CAD  2.0  49.75 

Fontovision  39.95 

Animation  Multiplane  56.75 


Gen-One  Genlock     749.00 


Aegis  Draw  Plus 
Anolytc  Art 
Anrnole  3D 
Animolion  Uulplone 
Animolor  Apprenlice 
Butcher  2.0 

Caigropher  nev  Version 
Comic  Ops  Voll-3 
Dfknt  Point  2.0 
Oeknt  PoW  Artdrsk  1.1 
Detn*  Photo  Lob 
Detflte  Productions 
Dekjie  video  1.2 
DigiPoiil  2.0 
LUreclor 
Dynamic  Cad 
Fontovabn 

F%9de 

Forms  it  Hc|hl  I 


TW 

149.50 
39.50 
99.00 
56.75 

1 95.X 
21.M 
89.75 
27.50 
77.50 
22.50 
99.50 

149.50 

89.00 

col 

44.50 

299.00 
39.95 
39.50 
77.50 


239.00 

95.00 

695.00 

cal 


HARDWARE  of  the  Month 


8  MEG-CARD  for  the 
Amiga-2000 

with  full  8  Meg  of  Memory 


>>> 


$1949.00 


Please  call  for  dotoils  ! 


Window  Print  II 

Ihe  ultimale  Screen-Crabber. 
Hondles  e»tn  your  'Brfcjgeboard'- 
Screen-!  FF-2-1con  Uliy  Waded ! 

PR0GRAMMING- 
LANGUAGES 

A/C  Bosc  Compfef  119.00 

A/C  Fortran  (AB-Sofl)  179.00 

AUGA  C  Compler  99.50 

AUGA  Poscul  77.50 

A/tec  C  Developer  199.00 

Wet  C  Piolesswol  145.00 

Artec  Source  level  Debug.  59.75 

Benchmark  Amigo  Lbrary  64.50 

Benchmark  C-Lbrory  64.50 

Benchmark  FF  Lbrary  64.50 

Benchmark  Modula-2  134.50 

Lattice-C  Malh-Lbmry  69.00 

Lattice-C  Professonct '  259.00 

Lattice-C  Sceen  Editor  69.00 

lallice-C  Slomtord  139.00 

lalliee-C  leit  Ed.  Port  49.50 

Lollice-C  d8C  LArory  99.50 

lint  69.00 

Lisp  109.50 

MCC-Postal  69.50 

Mono  Assembler  t.  AUGA  75.00 

ModukJ-l  Commercial  115.00 

Uodula-I  Developer  £9.50 

Uodulo-I  Slondoid  59.50 

POO-Poscol  49.50 

Po«tr  Window  52.50 

Irue  Bosic  69.50 


BUSINESS 

*ajuisflion 

Analyze  2.0 

BES1  Uancgemenl  System 

CyonusCD 

E  science 

Financial  Phis 

Fkw 

Gold  Sod 

Kindrords 

Loaistii 

Moo  Plan  500 

Mog  Plon  Pkis 

Microfiche  Fler 

Money  Mentor  2.0 

Organin 

Ptiosar 

Pro«ite2.0 

Scrbt*  ?C 

SotlnodFlel 

Ifsfd 

le>£d  Plus 

Word  Pertecl  Lbrary 

WordPerfect 


(OS) 


199.00 
62.50 
295.00 

mat 

189.50 
199.00 
59.50 

29.50 
69.00 
99.00 
99.50 
129.50 
69.50 
59.50 
69.50 
59.75 
73.50 
5750 
79.50 
22.50 
54.50 
79.50 
195.00 


MUSIC 

Audio  Mcstei 
Dekiie  Music 
Or.  1's  KCS  1.6 
Drum  Studio 
Dynamic  Drums 
Dynomic  Studio 
Laser  Sound  Vol.  1-3 
HI  Recording  Studio 
Must  Mouse 
Uusx-X 
Sonii 

Sound  Ouesj  Case  C; 
Sound  Ouesl  D-50 
Sound  Quest  DX-7 
Sound  Ouesl  DX-7 1 
Sound  Ouesl  Generic 
Sound  Ouest  MT-32 
Sound  Ouest  0-80-ES0I 
Sound  Ouest  1X-8I  C 
Soundscope  Udi  Sludo 
SoundScape  Wilies  I 
Studio  Magic 
Synlhio 
leiture 


39.50 
59.50 
175.00 
29.50 
47.50 
129.50 
27.50 
44.50 
49.50 
cal 
47.50 
79.00 
99.00 
99.00 

99.ro 
79.ro 

99.00 
99.00 
79.00 
122.50 
39.95 
69.50 
69.00 
109.50 


Greot  Hardware  Buys 


CM! 
Processor  Accelerator 

NsHHft  68000  CPUodd-on  gel's 
your  Amiga  on  the  fast  track  without 
spending  a  fortune  !  We  run  it  more 
than  4  weeks  no»  lilhoul  any 
problems  wih  comoalcirty  .  .  .  ! 
Soltwore-loggte  to  okJ  regurjr 
Amiga- speed  inrtjded  ! 

$149.50 


FkrtJe  Colo  Systems 

FDATA-10  Disk  Drive 

This  extemol  3.5"  Drive  is  a  very  ineipensm  unit 
lo  make  the  life  «ilh  your  Amigo  rosier. 
Ihe  FDolo-ID  is  compatible  with  the  original 
Amigo-driw  but  is  quieter,  smoller   ond  has ; 
longer  coHe  (27inch)  lo  conned  it  lo  the  Amigo 

Oh  yes.  before  «t  forgel  lo  lei  you. 

rl'sonh/  $139.50!      j 


Huge  Prill 
Interchange 
hire  CAD  2.0 
PogefSpper 
Pholon  Point 
Piano  le 
Pro  Soord 
ProNel 
Pro  Video  Plus 
ScuW  3D 
SaW  3D  (PAL) 
S*tr 


"T43T 
29.50 
49.75 
29.50 
69.50 
49.50 
375.00 
375.00 
199.50 
64.75 
69.75 
99.50 


TV5ho»  HTSC/PAL   62.M 


TV-Tert 

Turbo  Prill 
Turbo  Sfcer 
Video  Effects  3D 
Video  Tiki 
Videoscape  30 
X-CAD 


62.50 
32.50 
col 
129.50 
99.50 
119.50 
359.00 


UTILITIES 

Anli-WusN 
01  Mole 
D0S-2-DOS 
Demonstrator 
focc  I 
Gomo? 
Comf2.2 
LV-Backup 
Uorouder  I 
Project  0 
Quarterback 
Zing 
frig  Keys 


BOOKS 

39.95  AkTCA  Grophic/Soond  17.75 

27.50  Amigo  Oos  Manual  19.50 

42.50  Desktop  Video  11.95 

24,50  Hordwre  Reference  Man.  19.50 

19.50  hlutol  Reference  Man,  19.50 

39.75  ROM-KERNEL  Lib.&Oev.  77.50 

24.50  ROM-KERNEL  Enc.  19.50 

S3  MISCELLANEOUS 

29.50  Mousepod  6.95 

4 '.25  Intelrlype  34.50 

49.50  Sony  3.5"  DS/DD  (10-Pock)  17.50 

col  The  forks  139.50 


r    ^    ^ 


We  accept  major  Corporste. 
Govememenl.  School  ond  Uruver- 
sty  Purchost  Orders  !      j 

DESKTOP  PUBLISHING 


CHy  Desk  2.0 

Cty  Desk  Art  Companion 

Comic  Seller 

Font  Set  I 

Laserscnpt 

MensWter  Fonts 

Pai-FonlsVol.1-3 

Page  Seller 

P/olesskmol  Poge 

PubSshing  Portner 

Shakespeare 

Studio  Fonts 

GAMES 


col 
col 
69.50 
24.50 
29.50 
29.50 
27.50 
89.50 
239.00 
149.50 
149.50 
29.50 


We  expect  in  October 


Caligari 


by  Octree  Softure 

The  ultimote  onimation  Packoge 

please  col  for  inf»rmotio« 


919 


mi  mis 

h  — nemum — 


Amegos 

Ararok's  tomb 

Arkanoid 

Bolonce  of  Power 

Borbcrion 

Bralaccos 

Bureocrocy 

Cenlerfok)  Sguores 

Chompionshe  Baskelbol 

Chompianship  Basebal 

Chompionshe  Foolbal 

Chompionsh^  Corf 

Cube  Master 

Dork  Costle 

Detender  of  the  Crown 

DejaVu 

Destroyer 

Ebonslar 

Empre 

European  Scenery  Disk 

Foery  lole  Adventure 

Ferrori 

Flghlsinulolor 

Fool  Man 

Cck>o2.0 

Gee'Bn  Ar  Ro«v 

Grond  Sam     (fplnis) 

Grid  Iron         MbOl) 

Cuid  ot  Thieves 

Hocker 

Hacker  < 

Holywooil  Poker 

Indoor  Sports 

Inlerceptor 

kilo  Ihe  Eogles  Nest 

Jet 

Jenets  ot  Dorkness 

Karale  Kid  I 

King  of  Chicago 


19.50 
24.50 
19.75 
34.50 
24.50 
34.50 
27.50 
22.50 
29.50 
27.50 
29.50 
27.50 
19.50 
24.50 
35.50 
32.50 
27,50 
29,50 
31.50 
19,50 
29.75 
31.50 
39.50 
22.50 
45.50 
27.50 
29.75 
44.50 
29.50 
19.75 
27.50 
24.50 
34.50 
34.50 
19.50 
32.50 
9.50 
27.M 
25.50 


Kings  Dues!  I 

Kings  Ouest  I 

Kings  Ouest  II 

Knight  Ore 

Leoderboord 

Winfjwalker 

Obilerator 

Ptulos 

Portal 

Ports  of  Col 

O-Bol 

Return  lo  Alkjnlis 

SO 

Scenery  Disk  7/11 

Scenery  Disk  Europe 

Scenery  Disk  Japan 

Shcdorgale 

Shonghai 

SJenl  Service 

Silicon  D'eums 

Sindbod 

Space  Ouesl 

Storgfrder 

St*  Poker 

it*  Poker  ::•:  '< 


34.50 
34.50 
34.50 
29.50 
27.50 
29.50 
29.50 
19.50 
34.50 
29.75 
19.50 
34.50 
34.50 
19.50 
19.50 
19.50 
29.75 
2750 
27,50 
9.50 
34,50 
32.50 
29.50 
27.50 
14.75 


St*  Poker  Doto  J5   H.75 


Surgeon 
Temple  of  Apshai 
Terror  Pods 
Test  Drive 
The  3  Stooges 
The  Pom 
Transylvonio 
Uninvited 

Vompies  Empires 
Vyper 

Winlergomes 
World  Gomes 


29.75 
27.50 
29.50 
29.50 
31.50 
29.50 
24.75 
34,50 
29.50 
22.50 
11.95 
27.50 


f       Go  ahead!       "\   1 

Coll  us  with  your  best 

Ouole ! 

And  os  ollwoys; 

we've  gal  Ihe  most 

'customer  friendly'  Terms :    i 

S/H  J3.00 

NO  COD-Charge  ! 

NO  Credit  Cord  Fee  ! 

but 

V>  TEXAS  add  17.  TAX  \J 

V 

J 

f       New  Gomes !        ^ 

Incognito  Sotlware 

Realm  of  the  Warlock  24.50 

Digital  Concepts 

larch  2081                19.50 

Roinbrd 

SlorgWer  11  29.75 

lit  US 

Oft  Shore  Warrior         28.50 

tfcrodeol 

Major  Motion                27.50 

Aclionwore 

\£HASARGUN                v&J 

Circle  »166  on  Resder  Service  Card 


"movie"  cameras,  further  enhancing  the  Amiga's  already  as- 
tounding capabilities.  With  the  (rumored)  soon  to  happen 
emergence  of  an  extremely  high  resolution  monitor  like  the 
Sony  19"  color  display  for  the  Mac  n,  video  stills  will  be 
even  more  impressive. 

2.  I've  heard  from  several  people  who  are  interested  in 
using  DTP  programs  like  Professional  Page  or  Shakespeare. 
They  don't  have  any  background  in  the  graphic  arts  and  feel 
at  a  loss  as  to  a  starting  point.  Just  booting  the  software 
doesn't  help  because  they  don't  understand  picas,  points, 
color  seps,  etc.  So,  my  recommendation  is  to  pick  up  the 
Complete  Guide  to  Pasteup  by  Walter  B.  Graham,  published 
by  Dot  Pasteup  Supply  Company.  Most  large  bookstores 
carry  this  useful  primer  into  the  whats  and  wherefores  of 
the  manual  system  and  terminology  that  lie  behind  elec- 
tronic publishing. 

3.  When  using  Electronic  Arts'  DeluxePaint  II,  or  any 
paint  program  with  similar  functions,  you  can  alternate  be- 
tween the  Shade  and  Blend  commands  to  produce  a  brush 
which  creates  highlights  at  appropriate  points  on  your  mas- 
terpiece. Basically,  you  draw  an  object,  fill  it  with  a  dark 
color,  and  then  select  a  lighter  color.  Pick  a  brush  which 
fits  the  desired  level  of  detail  (how  much  of  an  area  you 
want  to  highlight  or  burnish)  and  activate  Shade  mode.  Move 
the  brush  to  produce  the  highlight,  switching  back  to  Blend 
to  capture  color  from  the  surrounding  area— for  when  the 
highlight  becomes  too  light. 

This  is  quite  useful  when  producing  objects  or  text  that 
need  to  reflect  the  effects  of  light  sources,  or  to  create  that 
worn  down  look.  It  can  also  be  handy  when  producing  a 
pseudo-perspective  look,  sort  of  a  fake  3-D  look  that  sim- 
ulates a  distant  horizon.  Consider  the  possible  uses  and  ef- 
fects of  passing  a  darker  color  over  a  lighter  one.  Do  I  hear 
Halloween  and  spooky  images  calling? 

THUMBNAIL  REVIEWS 

First  up  this  month  is  Broderbund's  Fantavision,  an  ani- 
mation program  which  comes  to  the  Amiga  courtesy  of  the 
Apple  EL  Broderbund  has  optimized  the  program  for  the 
Amiga.  Pull-down  menus,  icons,  mouse  maneuvers,  every- 
thing Amigaphiles  expect  is  here.  Fantavision  does  not  suf- 
fer from  "translationitis,"  despite  its  origins. 

In  a  nutshell,  all  resolution  modes  are  supported,  a  max- 
imum of  32  colors  can  be  used  simultaneously,  audiovis- 
ual data  is  stored  in  standard  IFF  structure,  and  it  gener- 
ates up  to  128  "tweens." 

It  has  been  the  most  recent  hit  in  the  office  because  it 
is  so  easy  to  use;  yet  it  still  produces  eye-popping  effects. 
(We  have  been  known  to  leave  the  Dinosaur  demo  running 
for  an  entire  day.) 

Sporting  a  better  interface  than  Aegis'  entry  into  the  ani- 
mation market,  providing  more  powerful  tools,  and  having 
the  ability  to  create  run-time  demos  (not  requiring  the  full 
program),  this  is  a  surefire  marketing  and  presentation  tool 
for  small  businesses  that  want  to  make  a  lasting  impression. 

The  overscan  mode  makes  this  a  powerful  entry  in  the 
professional's  toolbox  as  well.  Quick,  very  sharp  looking 
product  and  company  demonstrations  can  be  created  for 
clients  in  much  less  time  than  it  takes  to  create  manual 
story  boards  alone.  Blow  the  images  to  a  VCR  or  slides, 

42     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


and  we're  talking  significant  moneymaking  propositions. 

While  discussing  imagery,  let's  move  on  to  Deluxe  Pho- 
toLab  by  Electronic  Arts.  This  program  is  really  3-in-l,  like 
the  oil.  It  has  an  almost  DeluxePaint  II  paint  program,  a 
poster  routine  which  allows  you  to  print  mini-billboards  up 
to  10  feet  square,  and  an  image  processor. 

While  the  first  two  routines  are  good,  the  heart  of  DPL 
lies  in  the  image  processor.  With  it  users  can  cross-tabu- 
late and  control  R(ed),  G(reen),  B(lue)  colors  with  H(ue), 
S(aturation),  V(alue),  and  Y(ellow),  C(yan),  and  M(agenta). 
Palettes  may  be  matched  across  images,  colors  melded,  neg- 
ative or  black  &  white  images  produced -from  menus! 

Small  advertising  agencies  or  layout  departments  in  com- 
panies will  go  wild  over  the  color  separation  and  color  comp 
capabilities.  The  ability  to  merge  and  color-coordinate  dis- 
parate images  is  another  boon  whose  importance  and  con- 
tribution to  creativity  cannot  be  fathomed  until  you  actu- 
ally use  the  program. 

Another  EA  entry,  Deluxe  Productions,  follows.  As  Pho- 
toLah  overlaps  some  of  the  functions  found  in  DeluxePaint 
II,  DProd  offers  some  of  the  functions  in  DeluxeVideo.  This 
overlap  raises  issues  of  product  focus  at  EA,  perhaps  trace- 
able to  the  programs'  origins  with  different  developers  who 
are  assisted  and  published  by  EA.  In  the  end  this  blurring 
between  products  does  not  diminish  DProd's  or  PhotoLab's 
effectiveness,  it  just  makes  me  wonder  what  "mix"  product 
will  appear  next.  (To  give  you  an  indication  of  how  hot  this 
program  is,  a  client  of  ours  is  reviewing  it  for  tips  on  the 
next  generation  of  their  IBM  PC  products.) 

Business  presentations,  broadcast  titling  and  overlays, 
computerized  slideshows-  they're  all  at  your  fingertips  cour- 
tesy of  DProd's  twin  buffering,  overscan  display  mode,  VCR 
playback  mode,  and  (special  effects  enhanced  computer 
screen)  slideshow  playback  mode. 

Simple  animation  is  allowed  to  a  limited  number  of  ob- 
jects, scripts  can  be  chained  together,  and  all  disk  data  is 
checked  for  integrity  before  playback— to  prevent  embar- 
rassment or  worse  due  to  a  faulty  presentation. 

The  program  comes  pretty  well  equipped  with  graphic 
symbols  and  fonts.  An  attempt  to  make  it  more  business- 
oriented  comes  in  the  form  of  a  hard  disk  loader  utility. 
While  thoughtful,  it  would  be  easier  if  you  just  moved  the 
icons  to  a  drawer. 

Since  video  images  can  be  introduced  with  graphic  over- 
lays, there  are  virtually  no  limits  as  to  the  people  who  can 
benefit  from  this  program.  Car  dealerships,  television  sta- 
tions, video  professionals,  sales,  marketing,  and  advertis- 
ing departments  and  agencies— the  list  is  practically  endless. 

Promotion  (selling)  is  the  key  to  success,  and  that's  why 
DProd  shines.  It  brings  sexy  communication  within  the 
reach  of  the  masses. 

All  the  programs  mentioned  here  passed  the  basic  usage 
tests;  they  are  reliable  and  fundamentally  easy  to  use,  con- 
sidering their  categories.  (In  other  words,  they're  not  word 
processors.)  The  worst  offender  was  DProd,  and  not  in  the 
performance  area.  Its  interface,  nothing  like  DVideo's,  is 
too  "IBM  PC-like"  in  areas  of  major  import. 

Stay  tuned  and  keep  in  touch.  Address  all  correspondence 
to  Salamone  &  Associates,  42  Canterbury  Road,  Bridgeport, 
CT  06606.  □ 


B 


l:YI:  ON  CLI 


WC 


Understanding  and  Using  the  Command  Line  Interface 


By  Richard  Herring 


Last  month,  we  began  our  look  at  AmigaDOS 
batch  files  (a.k.a.  script,  sequence,  and  command 
sequence  files).  By  examining  the  Startup-Se- 
quence file  in  the  S  directory  of  our  Workbench 
1.2  disks,  we  got  a  brief  introduction  to  the  power  of  batch 
files.  This  month,  we  will  review  a  few  customizing  tricks 
to  make  Startup-Sequence  more  productive  and  more  power- 
ful. Then  we'll  begin  our  discussion  of  batch  files  that  we 
can  call  up  when  we  need  them,  not  just  when  we  reboot. 
One  of  the  easiest  ways  to  match  your  Amiga  to  your  needs 
is  to  make  some  simple  changes  to  the  Startup-Sequence 
batch  file.  Let's  use  a  typical  system -an  Amiga  500  with 
512K  to  1  megabyte  of  RAM  and  1  or  2  floppy  drives— as 
an  example. 

Once  you  start  customizing  Startup-Sequence,  you  may 
have  a  hard  time  stopping.  There's  always  some  reason  to 
tweek  it  to  load  faster,  meet  your  changing  needs,  or  in- 
clude some  utility.  As  you  edit  and  re-edit,  you  will  get 
tired  of  typing  Startup-Sequence,  believe  me.  So  let's  cre- 
ate an  executable  batch  file  to  save  some  keystrokes. 

You  cannot  call  Startup-Sequence  anything  else,  because 
DOS  looks  for  that  specific  name  on  rebooting.  An  easy 
fix  is  to  RENAME  Startup-Sequence  TO  SS  and  then  cre- 
ate a  new  Startup-Sequence  file  that  contains  the  single 
command  EXECUTE  SS.  Now  when  you  use  ED  or 
NOTEPAD  or  your  favorite  word  processor  to  fine  tune  that 
initial  batch  file,  you  can  refer  to  it  simply  as  S/SS. 

After  renaming  SS,  here  is  an  easy  way  to  create  a  new 
Startup-Sequence.  Type: 

COPY  *  TO  DFO:S/Startup-Sequence  <  return  > 
EXECUTE  SS  <  return  > 
<  Ctrl  >  / 

The  COPY  command  reads  from  the  current  CLI  window 
(represented  by  *).  Anything  you  type  will  go  into  the  new 
file  you  are  copying  to.  The  last  line  (press  the  backslash 
while  holding  the  control  key)  is  an  end-of-file  character. 
Our  SS  batch  file,  along  with  all  our  other  batch  files, 
will  reside  in  the  S  directory  of  the  Workbench  disk.  Re- 
member from  our  discussion  of  ASSIGN  a  few  months  back 
that  the  Amiga  automatically  assigns  the  S:  logical  device 
to  the  S  directory.  EXECUTE  looks  for  batch  files  in  the 
S:  device,  so  that's  where  we  will  put  ours.  There  are,  of 
course,  a  variety  of  ways  to  get  around  this.  For  example, 
EXECUTE  can  find  batch  files  in  the  current  directory, 


or  we  can  reassign  S:  to  a  different  directory. 

As  you  customize  your  new  file  SS,  keep  two  things  in 
mind.  First,  because  rebooting  is  something  we  all  hate  to 
sit  through,  design  your  SS  to  get  its  business  done  as  quick- 
ly as  possible.  It  seems  to  help  to  use  full  pathnames  when- 
ever referring  to  a  disk  file.  This  also  helps  to  document 
SS.  You  will  want  to  use  as  few  commands  as  possible  from 
a  floppy— a  RAM:  disk  is  much  faster.  And  you  can  delete 
all  unnecessary  comments— both  loading  the  ECHO  com- 
mand and  outputting  text  to  the  screen  take  time. 

Second,  be  cautious  about  how  you  use  up  RAM.  As 
we  begin  to  explore  with  the  CLI,  we  will  find  all  kinds 
of  nifty  utilities.  Many  of  them  take  up  precious  memory. 
You  can  build  an  SS  file  that  will  chew  through  the  avail- 
able memory  on  even  a  beefed  up  system.  Test  utilities  for 
a  while  to  see  if  they  are  really  useful  to  you.  Then  decide 
whether  you  want  them  every  time  you  boot  up. 

To  show  that  I  try  to  practice  what  I  preach,  here  is  the 
SS  file  on  a  disk  I  often  boot  from. 

SYS:C/echo  " 

SYS:C/ECH0  "Creating  small  RAM:  disk." 

SYS:C/MAKEDIR  RAM:C 

SYS:C/C0PY  SYS:C/C0PY|  ECHO | WAIT  TO  RAM:C  QUIET 

RAM:C/ECH0  "' 

RAM:C/ECH0  "Loading  BlitzFonts  and  Blank." 

SYS.BIitzFonts 

SYS:  Blank 

SYS:SYSTEM/SETMAP  usal 

SYS:C/SETCL0CK  OPT  LOAD 

RAM:C/ECH0  "" 

RAM:C/ECH0  "Putting  DOS  1.2  files  into  RAM:  disk." 

RAM:C/ECH0  "" 

RAM:C/ECH0  "Press  Ctrl-D  to  abort  copy  to  RAM:" 

RAM:C/WAIT  2 

SYS:C/ASSIGN  C:  RAM:C 

COPY  SYS:C/ASSIGN|CD|DELETE|DIR|ED  TO  RAM:C  QUIET 

ASSIGN  X:  RAM:C/EXECUTE 

COPY  RAM:C/DELETE  TO  RAM:C/DEL  QUIET 

ECHO  "" 

ECHO  "Loading  Workbench." 

ECHO  " 

ECHO  "Press  Ctrl-D  to  abort  loading  Workbench." 

WAIT  2 

Ahoyl's  AmigaUser    43 


SYS:C/LOADWB 

Since  I  have  a  meg  of  RAM,  I'm  always  willing  to  have 
at  least  a  small  RAM:  disk  with  a  C  directory  containing 
the  COPY,  ECHO,  and  WAIT  commands.  This  is  solely 
to  make  SS  run  faster.  Depending  on  how  you  structure 
SS,  you  may  actually  save  time  by  copying  files  into  RAM:, 
using  them  while  the  Amiga  boots,  and  then  deleting  them 
to  recover  memory.  A  command  like  ECHO,  that  could  be 
loaded  many  times  by  SS,  is  a  good  condidate  for  such  a 
process. 

Next  in  my  SS  are  two  of  my  favorite  memory-resident 
utilities.  BlitzFonts  will  speed  up  the  display  of  characters 
on  your  screen  by  up  to  600  percent.  It  is  a  $10  shareware 
program  by  Hayes  Haugen  that  uses  about  3500  bytes,  Blank 
is  a  utility  that  causes  your  Amiga's  screen  to  go  blank  af- 
ter a  period  of  inactivity  (keyboard,  mouse,  or  disk).  By 
turning  the  screen  solid  blue,  it  prevents  any  image  that  is 
left  on  screen  for  long  periods  from  "burning  in"  and  leaving 
a  ghost.  It  defaults  to  5  minutes,  but  you  can  set  any  time 
you  want.  Kenneth  Chiu,  Blank's  creator,  packed  this  into 
less  than  200  bytes. 

I  usually  follow  up  with  a  RAM:C  full  of  CLI  commands, 
including  those  in  the  listing  above  and  ENDCLI,  EXE- 
CUTE, INFO,  LIST,  MAKEDIR,  NEWCLI,  RENAME, 
RUN,  STATUS,  TYPE,  and  WHY.  Before  all  these  com- 
mands are  copied  into  RAM  (and  later,  before  Workbench 
is  loaded),  SS  gives  me  the  option  to  halt,  or  break,  its 
execution  by  pressing  Control-D.  My  SS  leaves  about  75  IK 
free.  By  comparison,  loading  Workbench  and  the  CLI  with- 
out a  RAM:  disk  leaves  849K  free,  and  loading  Workbench 
only  leaves  856K. 

Once  SS  gets  around  to  actually  copying  commands,  it 
saves  some  time  by  putting  several  filenames  on  each  COPY 
command  line.  As  long  as  the  filenames  are  separated,  or 
delimited,  by  the  vertical  bar,  COPY  will  act  on  each  of 
them.  The  vertical  bar  is  a  shifted  blackslash  above  the  re- 
turn key.  Note  here  that  you  cannot  type  an  infinitely  long 
series  of  filenames.  Somewhere  around  28  characters  seems 
to  be  the  limit. 

Now  I  don't  like  typing  long  CLI  commands  any  better 
than  I  liked  typing  Startup-Sequence.  You  see  that  there 
are  two  solutions.  First  is  to  ASSIGN  short  logical  device 
names  to  long  filenames.  Thus,  RAM:C/EXECUTE  be- 
comes X:.  (D:  for  DELETE  is  another  prime  candidate.) 
Because  I  use  other  computers  too,  I  am  prone  to  forget 
to  add  the  colon  that  ASSIGN'S  logical  device  names  must 
end  with.  My  second  option,  which  eats  a  bit  of  RAM, 
is  to  make  a  copy  of  the  command  under  another  name. 
Thus,  both  MAKEDIR  and  MD  exist  in  my  RAM:  disk. 
This  is  okay  for  very  small  files  like  RENAME  (REN)  and 
MAKEDIR. 

Why  not  RENAME  such  files  to  the  shorter  filename 
and  save  some  RAM?  That  works— sometimes.  However, 
it  can  be  confusing  to  someone  else  who  uses  your  com- 
puter and  can't  understand  why  that  good  AmigaDOS  com- 
mand does  not  work.  Even  worse,  it  can  confuse  programs 
you  run  that  may  need  those  DOS  commands  but  do  not 
know  your  shorthand. 

For  the  EXECUTE  command,  there  is  another  interesting 
way  to  avoid  typing.  Kamm  Schreiner's  public  domain  pro- 

44     Ahoy'.'s  AmigaUser 


gram  Auto  Execute  will  allow  a  batch  file  to  execute  by  just 
typing  its  name  at  the  CLI  prompt.  Batch  filenames  must 
end  with  the  .BAT  extension  and  be  placed  in  a  BATCH 
directory.  Each  such  batch  file  requires  the  presence  of  an 
additional  6K  file  on  your  disk  to  allow  it  to  run  without 
EXECUTE. 

We  have  pretty  well  beaten  Startup-Sequence  into  the 
ground,  so  let's  talk  about  batch  files  in  general.  As  we  saw 
last  month,  two  types  of  commands  are  found  in  batch  files. 
First,  any  command  that  can  be  typed  at  the  CLI  prompt, 
1  >,  is  fine  in  a  batch  file.  This  includes  AmigaDOS  com- 
mands and  executable  files  like  commercial  programs. 

Second,  a  number  of  commands  can  be  used  in  batch 
files  that  don't  work  (or  don't  have  any  value)  when  typed 
at  the  CLI  prompt.  These  include  the  AmigaDOS  com- 
mands (from  the  C  directory)  that  are  designed  for  use  in 
batch  files:  ECHO,  WAIT,  IF,  ELSE,  ENDIF,  FAILAT, 
LAB,  SKIP,  and  QUIT.  Let's  also  include  here  the  keywords 
used  by  IF:  EQ,  NOT,  EXISTS,  WARN,  ERROR,  and 
FAIL.  And  we  will  become  familiar  with  directives  that 
are  used  when  you  pass  arguments  from  an  EXECUTE 
command  line  to  a  batch  file.  These  each  begin  with  a  period 
and  include  .KEY  (or  .K),  .DEF,  .<space>,  .BRA,  .KET, 
.DOLLAR  (or  .DOL),  and  .DOT. 

We  cannot  digest  that  many  commands,  keywords,  and 
directives  in  one  sitting,  so  we'll  spread  the  discussion  out 
over  bite-sized  columns.  This  month  let's  look  quickly  at 
some  of  the  power  available  to  us. 

Here's  the  scenario.  We  have  a  word  processing  program, 
WR  Documents  we  create  are  saved  in  the  TEXT  direc- 
tory of  the  WP:  disk.  As  major  projects  are  finished,  we 
like  to  copy  them  onto  a  disk  called  ARCHIVE:.  Then  we 
delete  them  from  WP:TEXT  to  free  up  disk  space.  To  save 
typing,  let's  use  the  following  batch  file,  which  we  will  name 
ARCHIVE  and  put  in  the  S  directory  of  the  WP:  disk.  We 
can  use  it  by  typing  EXECUTE  ARCHIVE  <  filename  > . 

.KEY  filename 

;  This  is  the  ARCHIVE  batch  file. 
IF  <  filename  > A  EQ  A 
ECHO  "You  must  give  me  a  filename  in  the  format 

EXECUTE  ARCHIVE  filename" 
SKIP  bailout 
ENDIF 

IF  EXISTS  ARCHIVE:  <  filename  > 
ECHO  "Sorry,  <  filename  >  already  exists  on  ARCHIVE:  I 

don't  want  to  overwrite  it." 
SKIP  bailout 
ELSE 
IF  EXISTS  WPTEXT/<filename> 
ECHO  "Copying  <  filename  >  from  WP:  to  ARCHIVE:" 
COPY  WP:TEXT/<  filename  >  TO  ARCHIVE: 
ECHO  "Deleting  <  filename  >  from  WP:" 
DELETE  WP:TEXT/<  filename  > 
ELSE 
ECHO  "Sorry,  I  can't  find  <  filename  >  in  the  TEXT 
directory  of  WP:" 
ENDIF 
ENDIF 
LAB  bailout 
ECHO  END 


The  first  thing  we  do  is  pass  the  parameter  <  filename  > 
from  the  EXECUTE  command  line  to  the  ARCHIVE  batch 
file.  How  does  the  batch  file  know  to  look  for  <  filename  > 
on  the  command  line?  It  knows  because  the  first  line  in 
ARCHIVE  tells  it  to  substitute  the  value  (word)  you  type 
after  EXECUTE  ARCHIVE  everywhere  the  parameter 
name  <  filename  >  occurs  in  the  batch  file. 

The  first  IF/ENDIF  checks  to  make  sure  that  a  filename 
was  typed  on  the  EXECUTE  command  line.  If  nothing  was 
typed,  it  shows  you  the  format  and  SKIPs  to  the  end  of  the 
batch  file.  EQ  compares  two  strings  of  characters.  If  they 
are  the  same  (case  is  ignored)  the  command  on  the  line 
following  IF  is  executed.  EQ  must  have  two  strings;  it  can- 
not compare  your  entry  to  a  blank  (or  "  ").  That's  why  we 
add  an  A  to  <  filename  > .  If  the  filename  we  enter  plus 
A  equals  A,  then  no  filename  was  entered. 

Next  are  two  IF/ELSE/ENDIF  structures,  one  nested  in- 
side the  other.  (The  indentation  here  is  for  clarity  only.  When 
you  type  this  batch  file,  do  not  indent.)  The  first  IF  tests 
whether  a  file  with  the  same  name  as  the  one  we  want  to 
archive  already  EXISTS  on  the  target  disk.  If  it  does,  we 
SKIP  to  the  end  of  the  batch  file. 

The  SKIP  and  LAB  commands  work  together.  When- 
ever a  SKIP  command  is  executed,  the  batch  file  will  jump 
to  the  LAB  with  a  label  matching  the  one  for  SKD?  and 
continue  from  there.  This  is  similar  to  BASIC'S  GOTO  ex- 
cept that  SKIP  cannot  jump  backwards  in  the  batch  file. 

The  second  IF/ELSE/ENDIF  will  execute  only  if  we  have 


typed  a  filename  and  it  does  not  exist  on  the  ARCHIVE: 
disk.  The  file  will  be  copied  to  the  target  disk  and  deleted 
from  the  squrce  disk.  We  will  be  warned  if  the  batch  file 
cannot  find  the  file  on  the  source  disk. 

A  couple  more  comments  and  well  wrap  up  for  this 
month.  In  the  second  line  of  the  ARCHIVE  batch  file  is 
a  non-printing  line  beginning  with  a  semicolon.  Such  com- 
ments are  good  ways  to  document  more  complicated  batch 
files. 

Did  you  notice  that  the  last  ECHO  command  did  not  use 
quotation  marks?  If  ECHO  is  followed  by  a  single  word, 
it  does  not  require  them. 

On  a  one-drive  system,  this  batch  file  requires  too  much 
disk  swapping.  Can  you  restructure  it,  by  copying  files  to 
the  RAM:  disk,  so  that  only  one  swap  is  necessary? 

The  shareware  and  public  domain  programs  mentioned 
this  month  are  by  the  following  folks: 


Blitzivnts 
Hayes  Haugen 
11303  S.  Dogwood 
Edmonds,  WA  98020 


Blank 

Kenneth  Chiu 
2921  Bagley  Drive 
Kokomo,  IN  46902 


Auto  Execute 
Kamm  Schreiner 
1666  Silver  Fox  Circle 
Apopka,  FL  32712 


These  programs  are  widely  available  in  user  group  librar- 
ies and  on  Amiga  bulletin  boards.  If  you  can't  find  them, 
send  me  a  formatted  disk  and  return  postage  and  I  will  glad- 
ly make  you  a  copy.  Remember,  you  can  also  get  a  free 
public  domain  disk  by  sending  a  unique  CLI  tip  to  me  at 
P.O.  Box  1544,  Tallahassee,  FL  32302.  □ 


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Send  your  short  routines  and  programming  or  hardware  hints  to  Amiga  Toolbox,  c/o  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser,  Ion  International  Inc., 
45  West  34th  Street— Suite  500,  New  York,  NY  10001.  Include  the  program  and  source  code  on  a  VA"  disk,  along  with  documentation 
and  a  printout.  If  programming  in  a  language  other  than  Amiga  BASIC,  specify  the  compiler  used  and  the  manufacturer. 

MOUSELESS  AMIGA 

Few  people  realize  that  the  Amiga  can  be  used  without 
a  mouse.  Although  awkward,  the  following  key  combina- 
tions will  have  the  same  effect,  Pressing  either  of  the  two 
Amiga  keys  and  a  cursor  key  simultaneously  will  move  the 
pointer  in  that  direction.  Pressing  the  left  Amiga-Alt  com- 
bo has  the  same  result  as  pressing  the  left  mouse  button, 
while  the  right  Amiga-Alt  combo  does  the  work  of  the  right 
mouse  button.  —Michael  R.  Davila 

SAVED  ICON 

When  working  with  Amiga  BASIC  you  may  eventually 
decide  to  create  a  custom  icon  for  a  program  you  wrote. 
The  problem  is,  if  you  edit  the  program  and  resave  it  you 
lose  the  custom  icon.  Some  solutions  have  been  to  rename 
or  copy  the  .info  file  to  some  other  name  and  then  after- 
wards restore  it  to  the  original  name.  I  have  another  way. 

1.  Open  whatever  window  the  program's  icon  is  in,  then 
run  the  program  by  double  clicking  on  its  icon.  Do  not  close 
this  window! 

2.  After  editing  and  resaving  the  program,  go  back  to 
the  window  you  run  the  program  from  and  find  its  icon. 


IIHI1 


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Wanted: 

Innovative  Amiga 
Software  Programs 

The  Disc  Company,  an  international 
publisher  of  Amiga  software  with  of- 
fices in  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  and  Pa- 
ris, France,  is  looking  for  exciting  new 
products.  If  you  have  developed  an  in- 
novative program  for  the  Amiga  which 
is  near  completion— in  graphics,  vid- 
eo, entertainment,  music,  or  other  ap- 
plications—and would  like  your  pro- 
gram to  benefit  from  in-depth  assess- 
ment, strong  promotion,  and  exten- 
sive global  distribution,  we  would  like 
to  hear  from  you.  TDC  offers  advan- 
ces and/or  royalties,  as  well  as  addi- 
tional technical  support  required  to  fi- 
nalize your  product.  For  further  infor- 
mation, call  Jack  Light  at  (313) 
665-5540  or  write:  The  Disc  Company, 
3135  S.  State  Street,  Ann  Arbor,  Ml 
48108,  ATTN:  New  Products. 


H 
B 

n 
n 
i 


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m 


........  ■ 


Circle  *21S  on  Header  Service  Card 

46    Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


Now  make  a  snapshot  of  it,  and  when  you  close  and  reopen 
the  window,  the  designer  icon  will  still  be  there. 

—  Matthew  P.  Cummings 
Moberly,  MO 

ASCII  EDITS 

Don't  forget  that  Amiga  BASIC  can  load  and  save  pro- 
grams as  ASCII  text  files.  Among  other  things  this  means 
that  you  can  use  your  favorite  editor/word  processor  to  en- 
ter and  debug  programs.  Many  people  don't  like  the  lack 
of  a  find/replace  capability  in  the  basic  editor.  Try  using 
the  one  in  your  text  editor.  Don't  forget  that  if  you  have 
enough  memory  you  can  use  both  BASIC  and  the  word  pro- 
cessor simultaneously. 

The  syntax  to  save  a  BASIC  program  as  an  ASCII  text 
file  is  save  "filename",a.  This  capability  also  allows  you  to 
use  the  word  processor's  print  formatting  capabilities  to  your 
advantage  when  getting  printouts  of  your  BASIC  programs. 

-Paul  Maioriello 
Manalapan,  NJ 

CLI  BASIC  LOADS 

You  can  pass  the  name  of  a  BASIC  program  to  run  to 
an  argument  to  a  program.  For  instance,  from  the  CLI,  typ- 
ing "amigabasic  myprogram"  will  cause  Amiga  BASIC  to 
be  loaded  and  myprogram  to  begin  execution.  You  can 
achieve  a  similar  effect  in  Workbench  by  assigning  Amiga 
BASIC  as  the  default  tool  to  be  invoked  when  your  pro- 
gram's icon  is  double  clicked.  This  can  be  done  using  the 
INFO  option  of  the  Workbench  menu.  After  you  have  done 
this,  double  clicking  on  the  icon  will  automatically  cause 
Amiga  BASIC  to  be  loaded  and  your  program  to  begin  exe- 
cution as  before.  -Paul  Maioriello 

Manalapan,  NJ 

AMIGA  BASIC  EASY  LIST 

It  can  be  very  cumbersome  to  move  around  in  a  large 
BASIC  program  using  the  editor  because  the  screen  updates 
are  rather  slow.  Here  are  a  few  tips  to  make  the  situation 
a  little  easier  to  bear. 

You  can  move  to  any  subroutine  immediately  by  entering 
"list  subroutine-name:"  in  the  basic  output  window.  Using 
the  ALT  keys  in  conjunction  with  the  up  and  down  arrow 
keys  immediately  positions  you  at  the  beginning  or  end  of 
a  file.  The  SHIFT  key  in  conjunction  with  the  up  and  down 
arrow  keys  move  you  up  or  down  an  entire  page  in  the  pro- 
gram. The  left/right  keys  can  also  be  used  to  effectively 
move  the  cursor  in  conjunction  with  the  SHIFT  and  ALT 
key.  You  can  also  make  the  listing  window  as  small  as  prac- 
tical, since  the  smaller  you  make  it  the  faster  it  will  be  re- 
freshed as  you  move  about  in  your  program. 

—  Paul  Maioriello 
Manalapan,  NJ 

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A  few  of  the  pictures  included  in  the  demo  portion  of  Lights!  Camera!  Action!  to  demonstrate  special  effects  like 
dissolves,  flips,  and  fades.  They're  reproduced  here  purely  for  their  considerable  aesthetic  value. 


LIGHTS!  CAMERA!  ACTION! 
Aegis  Development  Inc. 
Amiga  with  1  megabyte 
Two  disks;  $79.95 

Desktop  video  is  among  the  newest 
of  computer  applications,  one  that 
barely  existed  before  the  Amiga.  Be- 
cause it  is  new,  it  might  be  wise  to  ex- 
plain what  it  is  and  what  its  uses  are. 

In  its  simplest  sense,  desktop  video 
replaces  the  slide  projector.  Instead  of 
struggling  with  a  projector  and  a  screen 
when  making  a  presentation,  you  strug- 
gle with  a  computer  monitor.  Alterna- 
tively, if  there  is  a  computer  at  the  pre- 
sentation site,  you  simply  take  a  disk 
with  you.  In  our  slide  projector  anal- 
ogy, if  a  projector  and  screen  were  at 
the  presentation  site,  you'd  carry  one 
or  two  trays  of  slides  with  you;  and  the 
lesser  bulk  of  a  3.5"  disk  would  seem 
to  make  desktop  video  a  clear  winner 
in  this  respect. 

Actually,  DV  wins  the  struggle  much 
earlier  than  that  point,  for  it  can  re- 
place not  only  a  single  slide  projector 
but  an  entire  multimedia  setup,  utiliz- 
ing such  features  as  split-screen,  fades, 
dissolves,  wipes,  and  a  mixture  of  still 
frames  and  animation.  Plus,  in  the  bet- 
ter programs,  synchronized  sound. 

All  this,  of  course,  is  by  way  of  pro- 
viding background  for  Lights!  Camera! 
Action!,  a  new  desktop  video  product 
from  Aegis  Development.  In  the  short 
history  of  DV,  the  principal  software 

48     Ahoyl's  Amiga  User 


packages  have  been  Aegis  Animator, 
with  which  you  could  create  short  ani- 
mated sequences;  Deluxe  Video  from 
Electronic  Arts,  with  which  you  could 
create  and  link  short  sequences  with 
sound  (at  the  cost  of  complex  controls); 
Deluxe  Productions  from  EA,  which 
gives  the  potential  for  much  longer  se- 
quences with  much  simpler  controls 
(but  with  a  loss  of  sound);  and  now 
LCA,  which  seems  to  combine  the  best 
features  of  the  latter  two  programs. 

In  creating  a  show,  you'll  work  with 
the  Edit  option  on  one  of  the  pulldown 
menus.  Here,  on  a  kind  of  graph  paper, 
frames  are  stacked  one  on  top  of  the 
other  with  characteristics  of  each  frame 
being  read  horizontally.  The  informa- 
tion in  this  script  is  a  digest  of  infor- 
mation you  entered  on  the  "Frame 
Specs"  screen,  and  makes  a  very  handy 
quick-reference. 

Frame  Specs  is  yet  another  chart, 
with  clear  labels  for  each  of  the  many 
options  to  be  entered.  On  this  screen, 
you'll  tell  the  program  what  to  do 


(Show  Still);  indicate  the  amount  of 
time  you  wish  the  picture  to  be  visi- 
ble; assign  the  picture  a  frame  num- 
ber and  a  buffer;  and  enter  the  path/ 
name  of  the  picture. 

At  the  bottom  of  this  screen,  you'll 
select  from  icons  and  burtons  that  con- 
trol the  transitions  of  the  pictures,  and 
in  the  process  you'll  become  familiar 
with  Hollywood  terms  such  as  dis- 
solve, flip,  fade,  wipe,  collapse -all  of 
them  relating  to  the  way  one  picture  on 
the  screen  will  transit  to  yet  another 
picture. 

In  the  center  of  the  Frame  Specs 
screen  are  requestors  for  installing  sim- 
ilar processes  for  sounds  and  music, 
and  for  animated  sequences. 

The  program  is  really  that  simple  to 
use,  and  perhaps  its  greatest  contribu- 
tions to  the  field— other  than  simplicity 
-are  in  the  intelligent  use  of  buffers 
and  in  the  inclusion  of  a  utility  program 
called  GrabAnim. 

To  take  first  things  first,  there  are  two 
ways  to  utilize  a  desktop  video  pro- 
gram: the  first  is  to  play  it  back  on 
a  computer,  and  the  second  is  to  trans- 
fer the  finished  show  to  video  tape.  In 
either  case,  proper  timing  of  the  final 
show  is  essential  to  success,  and  many 
otherwise  fine  creations  can  break 
down  either  while  waiting  for  disk  ac- 
cess to  the  next  frame  or  in  trying  to 
make  pictures  and  sound  come  out 
even. 

Circle  #185  on  Reader  Service  Card     -#■ 


FREE  ADDITIONAL  INFORMATION! 


Our  research  shows  that  our  readers  are 
discriminating  buyers.  The  majority  of  you 
are  intermediate  to  advanced  users,  who 
seldom  purchase  a  printer,  a  modem,  or 
even  a  space  shoot-em-up  on  impulse.  But 
purchase  you  do— after  making  an  intelli- 
gent choice  based  on  all  the  information 
you  have. 

So  why  not  make  sure  you  have  all  the 
information  there  is  to  have— for  the  cost 


of  a  single  stamp? 

Most  of  the  companies  listed  below  are 
eager  to  send  you  free  promotional  mate- 
rials relating  to  their  products  or  services. 
All  you  have  to  do  is  detach  the  Reader  Ser- 
vice Card  included  here,  circle  the  num- 
bers that  correspond  to  the  items  you're  in- 
terested in  (cross-referenced  to  their  page 
numbers  in  the  below  index),  and  stamp 
and  mail  the  card  prior  to  the  date  shown. 


BACK  ISSUES 

The  following  back  issues  oA  Ahoyl's  Am- 
igaUser  are  available  at  $4.50  each  (out- 
side US.  add  SI. 00  per  issue): 

FIRST  ISSUE -MAY  1988 

•  Sounds  Like... Amiga  -a  look  at  Am- 
iga sound  sampling,  and  five  products 

•  The  Essential  Amiga  Entertainment 

Library- buyer's  guide  to  the  24  best 
games  available 

•  AmigaUserTerm  -  an  Amiga  termin- 
al program,  ready  to  enter  and  run 

•  Matrix  Pattern  -  a  fill  pattern  editor 
with  automatic  data  file  creation,  ready  to 
enter  and  run 

SECOND  ISSUE -AUGUST  1988 

•  Video  Digitizers  and  Frame  Grab- 
bers-the  optical  options  available 

•  Speech  Set- a  voice  synthesis  pro- 
gram, ready  to  enter  and  run 

•  Desktop  Publishing:  The  Latest  Ed- 
itions-a  look  at  the  newest  DTP  programs 

THIRD  ISSUE -NOVEMBER  1988 

•  Hard  Driving -new  SCSI  controllers 
and  backup  software 

•  ABM— an  Amiga  BASIC  missile  de- 
fense game,  ready  to  enter  and  run 

•  A  Batch  of  Answers -to  Command 
Line  Interface  questions 

Send  me  copies  of  issue  number 

.  Enclosed  find  my  check  or  money 

order  for  $ (outside  the  US  add 

SI .00  per  copy). 


NAME. 


ADDRESS. 


C1TY_ 


_STATE^ 


_ZIP_ 


Send  to: 

Ahoyl's  AmigaVser  Back  Issues 

Ion  International  Inc. 

45  West  34lh  Street -Suite  500 

New  York,  NY  10001 


READER  SERVICE  INDEX 


Page      Company 


Number      Page       Company 


Number 


33 

Absoft 

222 

56 

Magnetic  Images  Co. 

193 

16 

A-Squared  Distributions 

212 

8 

Memory  and  Storage 

148 

8 

Abacus 

161 

55 

Memory  and  Storage 

229 

17 

Access  Software 

184 

12 

Mkrolllusions 

151 

20 

Accolade 

160 

14 

Microlllusions 

157 

14 

Aegis  Development,  Inc. 

177 

12 

Micron  Technology  Inc. 

155 

48 

Aegis  Development,  Inc. 

233 

17 

Mindscape 

199 

(M 

Aegis  Development,  Inc. 

190 

26,27 

Mindscape 

215 

14 

AmiEXPO 

180 

37 

Montgomery  Grant 

173 

9 

ASDG,  Inc. 

218 

C-2 

New  Horizons  Software 

125 

24 

ASDG,  Inc. 

195 

72 

Oceanic  America 

206 

17 

Buena  Vista  Software 

196 

12 

Online  Information  Network  164 

7 

Central  Coast  Software 

191 

28 

Pacific  Peripherals 

280 

12 

Commodore 

165 

45 

Pioneer  Computing 

202 

20 

Commodore 

207 

6 

Practical  Solutions 

225 

13 

Cpmp-U-Save 

203 

12 

Practical  Solutions 

181 

18,19 

Computer  Direct 

217 

14 

Progressive  Peripherals 

176 

73 

Computer  System  Assocs. 

204 

17 

Psygnosis 

159 

25 

CompuAbility 

168 

17 

Rainbird  Software 

158 

1(1.11 

Creative  Computers 

175 

56 

RGB  Video  Creations 

228 

17 

Datasoft 

198 

59 

RGB  Video  Creations 

192 

32 

Datel  Computers 

172 

14 

Soft-Byte 

214 

8 

Day's 

150 

15 

Software  Visions,  Inc. 

137 

57 

Designlab 

234 

20 

Spirit  Technology 

156 

5 

DigiTek  Software 

138 

38 

Strategic  Simulations 

226 

36 

DigiTek  Software 

223 

C-3 

SunRize  Industries 

174 

57 

Digitronics 

227 

21 

Supra  Corporation 

170 

16 

Discovery  Software 

183 

12 

SPOC 

154 

47 

Discovery  Software 

189 

39 

SPOC 

221 

14 

Dr.  Ts  Music  Software 

178 

22 

The  Disc  Company 

208 

17 

Electronic  Arts 

197 

22 

The  Disc  Company 

209 

22 

Electronic  Arts 

200 

46 

The  Disc  Company 

219 

12 

Exhibition  Marketing 

162 

8 

The  ToolCaddy  Works 

151 

35 

Exocet/Scorpion 

232 

39 

Titus  Software 

230 

63 

Free  Spirit  Software 

188 

49 

Titus  Software 

185 

52 

Haitex  Resources 

220 

51 

Titus  Software 

186 

22 

Howard  W.  Sams  &  Co. 

201 

53 

Titus  Software 

187 

8 

Inkwell  Systems 
InterComputing,  Inc. 
InterComputing,  Inc. 

149 
205 
166 

6 

Wedgwood  Rental 

224 

33 
41 

50 
60 

AmigaVser  Back  Issues 
Ahoy!  Access  Club  #1 

- 

34 
12 
14 
14 

IntraCorp 
Jumpdisk 
KFS  Software 
Konami  Inc. 

231 
153 
179 
182 

67 

AmigaVser  Subscription 

- 

74 
74 

Ahoy!  Access  Club  #2 
AmigaVser  Binders 

- 

12 

LLM  Press 

163 

3 

LightSpeed  Distribution 

171 

The  ] 

publisher  cannot  assume  responsibility 

24 

Lionheart 

194 

for  errors  in  the  above  listing. 

50     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


Cirela  #186  on  Reader  Service  Card    -»■ 


THE  FUTURE  IS  IN  YOUR  HANDS !  FIRE  AND  FORGET !  NEVER  LOOK  BACK 


YOU  ARE  OUR  ONIY  CHANCE 


IBM  AND  COMPATIBLES  VERSION 


ATARI  ST  VERSION 


20432  CORISCO  STREET,  CHATSWORTH  CA  91311  PHONE:  (818)  709-3693  -  FAX;  (818)  709-6537 


□ PREVIEWS  id 


Before  music  can  be  played  on  the 
Amiga,  you  must  first  have  an  instru- 
ment, and  the  search  for  that  followed 
by  a  search  for  the  melody  can  make 
proper  timing  difficult  at  best.  With  the 
assigning  of  multiple  buffers,  both  in- 
struments and  melody  can  be  loaded 
into  RAM  where  they  will  be  instant- 
ly accessible. 

The  same  is  true  of  pictures  and  ani- 
mation: put  them  into  buffers  where  ac- 
cess is  instantaneous  and  even  a  duff- 
er should  be  able  to  have  them  appear 
on  the  screen  when  he  wants  them. 

GrabAnim,  a  utility  program  used  by 
Aegis  in  several  previous  offerings, 
makes  it  easy  to  create  an  animated  file. 
The  example  given  in  the  documenta- 
tion holds  that  you  could  create  a  tide 
with  a  program  such  as  Deluxe  Paint 
II,  save  it  to  a  GrabAnim  file,  move  the 
text  slighdy,  and  save  it  again.  Repeat- 
ing this  sequence  would  result  in  a  se- 
quence in  which  the  tide  becomes  ani- 
mated and  moves  about  the  screen. 
Well,  all  right.  It's  not  Roger  Rabbit, 
but  it's  still  an  easy  way  to  create  your 
own  animations. 

With  easy  to  learn  controls,  with  over 
40  special  transitional  effects,  and  with 
multiple  resolutions  (including  over- 
scan to  more  closely  emulate  a  broad- 
cast TV  image  size),  Lights!  Camera! 
Action!  should  appeal  to  anyone  in- 
volved in  any  kind  of  presentation 
graphics.  With  the  use  of  buffers  and 
GrabAnim,  it  should  appeal  to  advanc- 
ed users  and  those  who  have  used  the 
other  DV  programs  mentioned  earlier. 

Who  are  these  people,  these  poten- 
tial users?  Anyone  who  has  ever  tried 
to  explain  a  complex  subject  to  a  group 
of  people  and  who  has  found  the  job 
made  easier  by  the  use  of  pictures, 
graphs,  or  a  "chalk-talk."  These  would 
include  people  who  make  business  pre- 
sentations; people  who  wish  to  insert 
dazzling  titles  or  graphics  into  home 
video  movies;  anyone  who  needs  to 
demonstrate  a  product  or  service;  and 
those  who  want  to  learn  what  they  need 
to  know  to  someday  surpass  Roger 
Rabbit. 

That  sound  and  music  can  be  incor- 
porated and  accurately  timed  is  like 
frosting  on  the  cake.  People  watching 
a  slide  presentation  have  an  attention 
span  of  five  seconds:  leave  a  picture 
on  the  screen  longer  than  that  and  bore- 
dom sets  in  and  attention  wanders. 


Sounds,  music,  and  the  transition  spe- 
cial effects  all  allow  you  to  capture  a 
longer  attention  span  so  that  whatever 
message  you  are  conveying  has  a  much 
better  chance  of  taking  hold. 

With  all  this  going  for  it,  plus  the 
ability  to  create  "runtime"  disks  which 
can  be  played  even  by  audiences  who 
do  not  have  a  copy  of  LCA,  Lights! 
Camera!  Action  should  quickly  find  it- 
self a  place  in  a  growing  application 
field. 

System  requirements  are  lmb  or 
more  of  RAM  and  two  disk  drives.  Op- 
tional use  can  be  made  of  a  hard  disk, 
Genlock  device,  or  video  recorder. 
LCA  is  compatible  with  images  and 
sounds  stored  in  the  IFF  format. 

Aegis  Development  Inc. ,  2210  Wil- 
shire  Blvd.,  Santa  Monica,  CA  90403 
(phone:  213-392-9972).  -Ervin  Bobo 

Circle  #233  on  Reader  Service  Card 

X-SI'ECS  3D 

Hoitex  Resources,  Inc. 

Amiga 

Price;  $124.95 

Man's  desire  to  produce  stereoscopic 
photographic  images  is  over  100  years 
old.  In  the  late  nineteenth  century  the 
stereoscope,  a  hand-held  dual  lens  de- 
vice that  displayed  three  dimensional 
photographs,  was  a  popular  parlor  fix- 
ture throughout  the  United  States  and 
Europe.  In  the  1950s,  a  rash  of  grade 
B  3-D  movies  and  comic  books  ap- 
peared, complete  with  cardboard  red 
and  green  eyeglasses.  More  recently, 
motion  picture  technology  introduced 
a  technique  employing  polarized  glass- 
es, best  represented  by  George  Lucas' 
short  film,  "Captain  EO,"  shown  at  the 
Kodak  pavillion  at  Disney  World. 

One  may  think  it  only  natural  that 
the  power  of  the  computer  should  in 
some  manner  also  support  this  visual 
delight,  particularly  the  Amiga  with  its 
superior  graphic  capabilities.  Just  think 
of  the  possibilities -missiles  flying  out 
of  the  screen  at  you,  CAD  models 
floating  in  air!  Haitex  Resources,  Inc. 
has  taken  the  first  step  by  developing 
and  marketing  its  X-Specs  3D  system 
for  the  Amiga.  The  system  consists  of 
two  pieces  of  hardware  supported  by 
a  software  interface  which  controls  the 
hardware.  The  essence  of  X-Specs  3D 
is,  of  course,  the  "glasses"  the  viewer 
must  wear.  The  best  description  I  can 
give  is  that  they  look  a  bit  like  a  sec- 
tion Darth  Vader's  helmet- a  black 


plastic  wraparound  visor  which  hangs 
from  a  headband.  They  operate  on  a 
principle  unlike  previous  3-D  technol- 
ogy, and  plug  into  a  small  black  inter- 
face box  which  is  itself  plugged  into 
joystick  port  2  and  supports  two  pairs 
of  the  glasses. 

A  three  dimensional  image  is  distin- 
guishable from  others  by  the  presence 
of  depth.  In  humans  (as  well  as  in  ani- 
mals), the  brain  processes  images 
viewed  by  both  eyes  (which  perceive 
the  same  view  from  a  slighdy  differ- 
ent angle)  into  a  sensation  of  depth.  If 
we  didn't  have  two  eyes,  we  couldn't 
experience  depth  and  would  be  at  a  dis- 
tinct disadvantage,  which  is  presumab- 
ly the  real  reason  Odysseus  was  able 
to  defeat  the  one-eyed  Cyclops!  The  ob- 
ject of  stereoscopic  imagery  is  to  cre- 
ate a  three  dimensional  sensation  us- 
ing two  dimensional  tools  (such  as  pho- 
tographs, movie  screen,  or -you 
guessed  it -computer  monitors).  This 
has  traditionally  been  accomplished  by 
taking  two  photographs  of  the  same 
scene,  one  offset  from  the  other  as  if 
seen  through  each  eye,  and  then  dis- 
playing these  images  side  by  side  or  ad- 
jacent to  each  other.  The  red/green  and 
polarized  glasses  make  the  left  picture 
visible  by  only  the  left  eye  and  the  right 
picture  visible  by  only  the  right  eye, 
thus  creating  a  sensation  of  depth. 

X-Specs  3D  operates  in  a  different 
manner.  While  the  system  still  requires 
a  separate  picture  for  each  eye,  they  are 
in  a  purely  technical  manner  displayed 
sequentially  and  not  simultaneously.  In 
fact,  each  of  the  two  views  are  alter- 
nately displayed  30  times  every  second, 
and  without  the  glasses,  the  picture  on 
the  monitor  vibrates  quite  noticeably. 
The  glasses,  however,  contain  two  sec- 
tions of  liquid  crystal  film  (one  over 
each  eye),  much  like  the  display  on  a 
digital  watch.  When  a  small  electric 
current  is  applied  to  the  film,  it  turns 
black  and  blocks  the  view.  Thus,  when 
the  left  eye  picture  is  being  displayed, 
a  signal  is  sent  out  through  the  joyport 
to  the  glasses  which  causes  the  film 
over  the  right  eye  to  darken  (so  only 
the  left  eye  sees  the  view) .  The  oppo- 
site occurs  when  the  right  eye  picture 
is  displayed.  And  because  this  process 
occurs  so  fast  (60  times  per  second), 
you  don't  notice  this  rapid  change  and 
your  brain  actually  combines  the  sep- 
arate views  into  one  three  dimension- 


52    Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


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X-Specs  3D 
operates  in 
a  different 
manner 
from  previ- 
ous 3D  sys- 
tems. Two 
separate 
computer 
images  are 
displayed 
sequentially, 
each  30 X 
a  second. 
The  glasses 
alternately 
darken  the 
image  seen 
by  the  left 
and  right 
eyes,  crea- 
ting the  3D 
effect. 


al  image. 

After  all  this  background,  you're 
probably  asking  the  question,  "But  do 
they  work?"  Without  a  doubt,  they  do 
work.  The  diskette  that  Haitex  supplies 
contains  a  number  of  demos,  as  well 
as  a  relatively  simple  3-D  arcade  game. 
One  demo  is  merely  a  picture  of  a  cat 
with  its  head  looming  out  of  the  mon- 
itor. Another  is  a  display  model  of  a 
molecule  floating  in  space  which  for 
educational  purposes  is  clearly  supe- 
rior to  a  two  dimensional  view. 
CUBES3D  is  a  line  animation  where 
two  rotating  cubes  alternately  move 
from  the  back  to  the  front  of  the  screen 


(or,  more  correctly,  out  of  the  screen). 
Probably  the  most  impressive  demo 
is  Space  Spuds,  a  shoot-em-up  space 
arcade  game.  Despite  its  simplicity,  it 
clearly  demonstrates  the  potential  of 
three  dimensional  entertainment  soft- 
ware. As  the  pilot  of  a  spaceship,  you 
must  whiz  through  space  and  blast 
away  the  debris  left  by  the  destruction 
of  an  intergalactic  junk  food  freighter. 
The  added  dimension  of  depth  is  ap- 
parent and  adds  a  unique  and  realistic 
feel  to  the  game.  Yet  Space  Spuds  must 
only  be  considered  a  modest  appetiz- 
er to  a  feast  which  is  yet  to  be  served 
(or  perhaps  even  yet  to  be  conceived). 


The  "manual"  takes  all  of  two  sides 
of  a  sheet  of  paper,  but  does  contain 
instructions  on  how  to  create  your  own 
3-D  images  using  a  digitizer  or  a  sculp- 
ture program.  If  the  left  and  right  im- 
ages are  stored  as  two  standard  IFF 
files,  then  a  short  utility  program  con- 
tained on  the  program  diskette  will  dis- 
play them  properly  while  controlling 
the  glasses.  Haitex  is  even  in  the  pro- 
cess of  registering  a  separate  ILBM 
form  with  Commodore  (a  single  file 
containing  the  left  and  right  eye  imag- 
es) just  for  3-D  images. 

Now  that  we  know  that  X-Specs  3D 
works,  we  must  examine  both  its  prac- 
ticality and  utility,  and  recognize  that 
as  of  the  writing  of  this  review,  there 
are  no  commercial  programs  available 
which  make  use  of  the  hardware.  Nat- 
urally, X-Specs  3D  are  of  little  use  with 
"bread  and  butter"  computer  applica- 
tions such  as  word  processing,  databas- 
es, and  spreadsheets.  It  would  be  ex- 
pensive to  use  them  in  point  of  sale  and 
video  presentation  systems,  as  all  of  the 
viewers  would  have  to  wear  the  glass- 
es. There  is  no  doubt  that  they  would 
serve  a  very  useful  purpose  in  high  end 
or  specialized  applications  such  as 
CAD  design  and  medical  modeling.  In 
fact,  they  are  already  being  used  suc- 
cessfully in  those  areas.  According  to 
Haitex,  doctors  at  UCLA  Medical 
Labs  are  using  them  for  magnetic  reso- 
nance brain  scan  imaging,  and  several 
institutions  are  using  them  for  mole- 
cular modeling. 

For  the  mass  market,  however,  the 
obvious  place  of  X-Specs  3D  is  in  the 
entertainment  arena,  where  already  im- 
aginative Amiga  programmers  can  add 


Left:  Twindrive  next  to  the  Amiga  1010  disk  drive.  The  former's  super  slimline  packaging  allows  the  user  to  conserve 
desktop  space.  Right:  Twindrive's  rear  panel,  showing  pass-thru  connectors  and  drive  enable/disable  toggle  switches. 


54     Ahoy'.'s  AmigaUser 


n  =  REVIEIUS  m  C 


that  third  dimension  to  their  programs. 
I  can  only  presume,  however,  that  pro- 
gramming a  game  in  3-D  would  require 
much  more  effort  than  normal,  and 
may  render  it  unplayable  by  those  with- 
out X-Specs  3D.  I'm  certain  that  every 
reader  can  think  of  numerous  games 
and  simulations  he  or  she  would  love 
to  see  in  three  dimensions,  but  the  fu- 
ture of  the  product  really  depends  on 
the  number  of  independent  software  de- 
velopers who  are  willing  to  devote  both 
the  time  and  money  to  programming 
and  marketing  such  programs.  I  would 
also  assume,  or  hope,  that  with  in- 
creased software  and  corresponding  in- 
creased sales  of  X-Specs  3D,  the  price 
could  be  reduced  to  a  level  which 
would  be  accepted  by  the  mass  market. 
I,  however,  cannot  judge  the  future  of 
the  product,  as  that  is  a  matter  for  the 
jury— and  the  jury  is  still  out.  I  would, 
however,  certainly  think  a  prudent  con- 
sumer would  wait  to  purchase  X-Specs 
3D  until  such  time  as  there  were  a  de- 
cent choice  of  programs  available  that 
made  use  of  the  hardware. 

Haitex  Resoures,  208  Carrollton 
Park- Suite  1207,  Carrollton,  TX 
75006  (phone:  214-241-8030). 

— Steve  King 

Circle  #220  on  Reader  Service  Card 

UNIDRIVE/TWINDRIVE 
Memory  and  Storage  Technology  Inc. 
Amiga  500/1000/2000 
Prices:  Unidrive  $169 
Twindrive  $299 

(Editor's  note:  Yes,  the  disk  drives 
reviewed  here  are  the  same  ones  an- 
nounced on  page  8  of  this  month's  Scut- 
tlebutt. As  sometimes  happens,  our 
evaluation  unit  arrived  immediately  af- 
ter the  press  release  for  the  product  had 
been  incorporated  into  our  news  sec- 
tion, making  it  possible  to  include  the 
review  in  the  same  issue.) 

Buying  a  peripheral  for  the  Amiga 
used  to  be  like  selecting  a  long  distance 
telephone  company  before  the  break- 
up of  AT&T:  the  Amiga  owner  was 
forced  to  buy  the  Commodore-manu- 
factured peripheral.  Which  is  not  to  say 
that  Commodore's  peripheral  was  like- 
ly to  be  of  less  than  high  quality,  but 
simply  that  the  consumer  had  no  free- 
dom of  choice.  It  seems  that  it  has  be- 
come a  tradition  for  the  third  party  de- 
velopers and  manufacturers  to  take  a 
"wait  and  see"  stand  when  Commodore 
introduces  a  new  computer.  In  some 


cases  this  policy  has  proven  to  be  a 
wise  one. 

Now  that  it's  been  over  three  years 
since  the  introduction  of  the  Amiga, 
we  are  witnessing  a  deluge  of  third  par- 
ty manufactured  peripherals.  This,  of 
course,  is  a  sign  that  the  Amiga  mar- 
ket is  alive  and  well.  The  user  now  has 
the  opportunity  to  select  not  only  the 
best-priced  products,  but  also  those  of 
the  best  quality.  The  Unidrive  and 
Twindrive  SW  external  floppy  disk 
drives  from  M.A.S.T.  Inc.  are  such 
products. 

The  unit  we  received  for  evaluation 
was  Twindrive,  the  dual  version.  Upon 
opening  the  box,  we  were  surprised  to 
see  that  the  Twindrive  was  smaller  in 
size  than  the  Amiga  1010  disk  drive. 
Could  the  technology  have  changed 
that  much  in  three  years?  Granted,  a 
certain  amount  of  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  miniaturization  of  compu- 
ter parts,  but  the  significant  decrease 
in  size  is  mostly  the  result  of  a  care- 
fully developed  drive  layout.  If  you 
were  to  open  up  your  Amiga  1010 
drive,  you  would  find  enough  room  in- 
side the  outer  case  to  fit  one  other,  pos- 
sibly even  two  other  drive  units.  I  guess 
Commodore  wanted  us  to  think  that  we 
were  getting  a  lot  for  our  money. 

The  Twindrive,  which  the  manufac- 
turer claims  to  be  the  slimmest  drive 
unit  available  as  of  this  writing,  mea- 
sured in  at  2  1/8"  high  X  4  1/16"  wide 
X  8  1/16"  long.  The  single  drive  ver- 
sion measures  one  inch  less  in  height, 
with  the  other  dimensions  the  same. 

Externally  the  drive  units  are  en- 
closed by  a  beige  colored,  durable  steel 
case.  Located  at  the  rear  of  the  drive 
are  two  25  pin  female  D-type  connec- 
tors, two  drive  enable/disable  toggle 
switches,  and  one  external  power  con- 
nector. Unlike  the  Amiga  1010  or  1020 
disk  drives,  the  Twindrive's  connect- 
ing cable  is  not  permanently  attached 
to  the  disk  drive,  making  it  more  con- 
venient to  store  during  transportation. 

Examining  the  D-type  connectors  on 
the  back  of  the  drives  reveals  that  they 
are  not  the  standard  23  pin  Amiga  con- 
nectors. Besides  the  difference  in  the 
number  of  pins,  they  are  also  slightly 
larger.  This  posed  a  problem  when  at- 
tempting to  arrange  our  drives.  The 
Twindrive  must  be  the  last  drive  con- 
nected if  you  are  daisy  chaining  sev- 
eral drives.  The  documentation  ex- 


plains that  you  must  use  a  suitable  con- 
nector if  you  are  going  to  arrange  your 
drives  in  any  other  fashion. 

The  two  toggle  switches  located  next 
to  the  D-type  connectors  allow  the  us- 
er to  enable  and  disable  a  selected 
drive.  A  warm  reboot  is  needed  after 
one  of  these  switches  is  toggled  on. 

As  tested  by  itself  with  the  A500  and 
the  A1000,  we  did  not  need  to  make 
use  of  an  external  power  supply.  How- 
ever, if  you  are  using  any  other  exter- 
nal drive  such  as  the  Amiga  1010  drive 
with  the  Twindrive,  an  external  power 
supply  is  required.  If  you  own  an  Ami- 
ga 2000,  the  power  supply  from  the 
computer  should  be  able  to  handle  the 
extra  load.  Otherwise  a  9  volt  power 
supply  is  available  from  the  manufac- 
turer at  an  additional  cost.  The  Twin- 
drive  consumes  only  6mA  of  power 
when  in  standby  mode,  resulting  in  a 
much  cooler  running  system  than  us- 
ual. This  is  an  added  blessing  when 
you  don't  need  any  more  heat  radiat- 
ing from  your  computer. 

Located  on  the  bottom  of  the  Twin- 
drive  are  four  screws.  Removing  these 
screws  allows  the  metal  cover  to  slide 
off,  revealing  the  drive  mechanisms. 
The  drive  units  themselves  are  manu- 
factured by  Fujitsu.  The  units  could 
hardly  be  heard  while  they  were  ac- 
cessing the  disk,  as  opposed  to  the 
grinding  noise  that  we  have  all  grown 
accustomed  to.  Another  nice  feature  is 
the  hinged  dust  flap  that  closes  auto- 
matically when  the  disk  is  ejected  from 
the  drive,  preventing  any  sort  of  dust 
or  debris  from  entering  the  drive. 

Both  the  drive  mechanisms  are  con- 
nected to  two  boards  at  the  rear  of  the 
metal  chassis.  It  is  on  these  boards  that 
you  will  find  two  jumper  blocks.  The 
first  set  of  jumpers  are  used  to  set  the 
drive  so  that  it  can  be  used  with  an  ex- 
ternal power  supply.  The  second  set  is 
to  enable  or  disable  the  drive  clicking 
that  you  hear  when  there  is  no  disk  in 
the  drive.  The  Twindrive  will  automa- 
tically detect  if  a  diskette  has  been  in- 
serted or  removed. 

We  tested  the  drives  with  various 
commercial  software  programs  and  had 
no  difficulty  with  any  of  them.  All 
loaded  and  executed  as  expected.  For 
those  users  who  purchase  the  Unidrive 
and  later  wish  to  upgrade  to  a  Twin- 
drive,  M.A.S.T.  Inc.  does  have  a  guar- 
anteed upgrade  policy.  The  drives  come 


Ahoy! '5  AmigaUser    55 


with  a  12  month  limited  warranty. 

Memory  and  Storage  Technology, 
Inc.,  7631  East  Greenway  Road,  Scotts- 
dale,  AZ  85260  (phone:  602-483- 
6359).  -Michael  R.  Davila 

Circle  *229  on  Reader  Service  Card 

DELUXEHELP 

for  Photon  Paint,  DigiPaint, 
Calligrapher,  and  Deluxe  Paint  II 
(Prices  and  memory  requirements 
vary;  see  below) 

We  can  safely  state  that  computer 
drawing  and  painting  really  began  with 
MacPaint  for  the  Macintosh.  Prior  to 
that  time,  good  computer  graphics  were 
created  by  low-level  programming 
while  so-so  graphics  were  created  by 
more  limited  joystick  painting  pro- 
grams for  the  Apple  and  the  C-64. 

Although  MacPaint  is  primitive  by 
today's  Amiga  standards,  it  introduced 
to  computerists  the  ability  to  move  a 
mouse  and  make  a  line  appear  on  the 
screen— and  to  select  an  eraser  and  re- 
move part  of  the  line.  By  the  same  to- 
ken, precise  circles,  squares,  and  rec- 
tangles could  be  created  and  enhanced 
with  text  in  a  variety  of  fonts  and  sizes. 


.A,  CLIP  ART! 

Magnetic  For  amiga"1 

tiage^v"         °ver  1®°  n'9n  resolution 
IFF  images  on  most  disks. 


NEW! 

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Antiques 
Sea  Life 
Gambling 
Nautical 
Knights 


NEW! 

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All  Christmas 
Graphics  I 


Disk  t 
Disk  2 
Disk  3 
Disk  A 
Disk  5 
Disk  6 


Compulcr,  Office,  Music,  School,  Travel,  Trans. 
;  Business,  Sports,  Animals,  Party,  Religious 
Food,  Borders,  Medicine,  Old  West,  N'cwslcttcr 
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So  far,  so  good.  Most  computer  us- 
ers are  capable  of  distinguishing  a  cir- 
cle from  a  square,  and  some  are  even 
able  to  spell  a  word  the  same  way 
twice.  But  with  the  advent  of  painting 
programs  for  the  Amiga,  the  disciplines 
of  Art  and  Computering  blended  and 
some  of  us  were  thrown  for  a  loss:  af- 
ter spending  a  great  deal  of  time  learn- 
ing to  work  with  computers,  we  were 
suddenly  expected  to  understand  things 
such  as  dithering,  shearing,  brushes. 
transparent  colors,  and  more. 

Some  of  us  kept  drawing  circles  and 
squares  and  adding  occasional  text.  We 
were  doing  it  in  color  and  thought  all 
was  right  with  the  world,  but  the  truth 
is  we  were  using  only  portions  of  some 
very  powerful  painting  programs. 

Enter  DeiuxeHelp.  Developed  by 
RGB  and  published  by  Apache.  De- 
luxeHelp  is  currently  available  in  edi- 
tions for  DehtxePaim  II,  Photon  Paint, 
DigiPaint,  and  Calligrapher,  Using  the 
multitasking  abilities  of  the  Amiga, 
each  of  these  programs  is  designed  to 
run  resident  with  a  painting  program 
and  to  provide  you  with  animated,  casy- 
to-understand  lessons  on  all  the  features 
of  that  particular 
program. 

Typical  of  the 
series  is  Deluxe- 
Help  for  Delttxe- 
Paint  II.  Deluxe- 
Help  goes  in  drive 
DFO:  and  Paint 
goes  in  drive 
DF1:.  As  Help 
loads,  it  also 
loads  the  painting 
program  and 
starts  it  running  in 
the  background. 
(With  the  edition 
of  Photon  Paint, 
Help  is  running  in 
the  background.) 
From  pulldown 
menus,  select  the 
feature  you  wish 
to  understand  bet- 
ter and  the  color- 
ful Help  screen  is 
replaced  by  the 
screen  of  your 
painting  program. 
The  standard 
Amiga  voice 
gives  you  audible 


)  $19.95   P^disk^ 


instructions  as  the  mouse  pointer  be- 
gins to  move,  but  these  instructions  are 
usually  limited  to  such  things  as  "LMB" 
(left  mouse  button)  and  "Release"  (the 
button).  No  matter.  If  you've  used  the 
paint  program  at  all,  you  already  un- 
derstand that  part  of  it. 

The  real  show  is  visual  as  your  cur- 
sor moves  to  select  tools  and  colors  and 
then  implements  them  on  the  screen. 
If  you've  selected  "Shear"  from  the 
"Brush"  menu,  the  program  will  cre- 
ate a  brush,  shear  it,  and  then  show 
you  what  a  sheared  brush  is  used  for. 
You  really  can't  ask  for  more  than  that. 

You  may  get  more,  however. 

In  my  work,  I'm  frequently  asked  to 
evaluate  such  programs,  sometimes  on 
short  notice.  Although  I  will  try  every 
feature  in  a  program  before  comment- 
ing on  it.  DeiuxeHelp  has  shown  me 
new  uses  for  some  features  I  had 
thought  to  be  of  only  marginal  value. 
In  this  respect,  the  animated  sequen- 
ces may  go  beyond  tutoring  and  slip 
into  the  area  of  inspiration. 

Lessons  given  do  not  seem  to  be 
truncated  in  any  way.  One  of  my  fa- 
vorite features  of  Photon  Paint  is  the 
manipulation  of  brushes,  particularly 
the  "Wrap-On"  feature.  In  selecting  this 
tutorial  from  DeiuxeHelp  for  Photon 
Paint,  I  was  shown  every  shape  on 
which  a  brush  can  be  wrapped,  even 
though  this  required  DeiuxeHelp  to  cre- 
ate several  different  brushes  to  better 
illustrate  the  effects  of  various  wrap-ons. 

Brushes  were  wrapped  onto  two 
shapes,  then  the  screen  would  clear  and 
another  brush  would  be  created  and 
wrapped  on  to  two  different  shapes.  In 
this  way,  the  program  managed  to  keep 
the  screen  uncluttered  and  showed  off 
the  feature  to  best  advantage.  Since 
many  tutorial  programs  seem  to  have 
shortcuts  built  in,  it  was  a  pleasure  to 
find  one  that  seemed  determine  to  cov- 
er everything  and  answer  every  ques- 
tion. In  other  instances,  such  as  the  tu- 
torial on  using  transparent  background 
color,  you  are  first  shown  the  effect 
youll  get  without  using  that  feature  and 
then  the  effect  you'll  have  if  you  use  it. 

The  DeiuxeHelp  series  can  be  used 
in  two  ways,  as  a  straight  tutorial  or 
as  online  help.  In  the  former,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  go  through  every  lesson  one 
after  the  other  and  perhaps  learn  the 
potential  of  the  painting  program  un- 
der question.  (Since  this  will  take  some 


Circle  »193  on  Reader  Service  Card 


56     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


□  =  REVIEWS  1 C 


time,  we  do  not  suggest  doing  this  in 
order  to  choose  which  paint  program 
to  purchase -unless  you  are  on  very 
good  terms  with  the  software  store 
manager  and  have  brought  a  lunch.) 

As  online  help,  DehtxeHelp  will  run 
in  the  background  while  you're  crea- 
ting your  masterpiece.  When  you  be- 
come stuck  or  need  to  be  refreshed  on 
how  to  use  a  particular  feature,  you 
swap  screens  by  pressing  Left-Amiga- 
N,  select  the  tutorial,  and,  when  it  is 
finished,  return  to  the  painting  program 
by  pressing  the  same  two  keys. 

Documentation  is  slight,  as  befits  a 
program  that  puts  almost  all  its  instruc- 
tions into  your  computer  and  on  your 
monitor  screen.  To  use  it,  you  need 
only  note  that  the  paint  program  must 
be  placed  in  drive  DF1:  and  not  DFO: 
as  you're  accustomed  to  doing.  Once 
you've  mastered  that,  you'll  only  have 
to  remember  how  to  make  a  menu  se- 
lection with  a  mouse. 

One  megabyte  of  memory  and  two 
disk  drives  are  required  for  running 
DehtxeHelp  for  Photon  Paint,  for  Dig- 
iPaint,  and  for  CaUigrapher.  Deluxe- 
Help  for  Deluxe  Paint  II  requires  only 
512K  RAM  but  still  needs  two  disk 
drives.  Help  for  CaUigrapher  carries 


a  suggested  list  price  of  $44.95,  while 
the  others  all  list  at  $34.95.  (Ed.  note: 
not  included  in  this  review  was  the  new 
DehtxeHelp  for  PageSetter—  list  price 
S34.95.) 

RGB  Video  Creations,  3944  Florida 
Blvd.,  Suite  102.  Palm  Beach  Gardens, 
FL  33410  (phone:  407-622-0138). 

—Ervin  Bobo 

Circle  #228  on  Reader  Service  Card 

FINEPRINT 

Designlab 
Amiga  with  51 2K 
Disk;  $49.95 

Rushing  out  to  buy  a  program  for 
your  Amiga  that  allows  you  to  print  in 
black  and  white  may  not  seem  entire- 
ly logical,  and  would  probably  make 
you  feel  as  though  you'd  fallen  into  a 
time  warp  and  got  off  at  the  wrong 
stop.  Color  printers  are  increasing  in 
number  and  decreasing  in  price,  and 
they'll  handle  all  the  beautifully  colored 
programs  like  Express  Paint,  Photon 
Paint,  and  so  on.  So  why  retreat  to  a 
disappearing  art  form? 

Well,  for  one  thing,  Fineprint  gives 
you  something  more  constructive  to  do 
with  old  printer  ribbons  than  pulling 
them  out  of  the  cartridge  and  using 


them  to  tie  up  your  little  brother.  And 
by  the  time  we  get  to  that  information, 
you  just  may  realize  that  Fineprint  is 
a  very  complex  program  with  some 
real  user  benefits. 

Although  Fineprint  can  be  copied  to 
a  Workbench  disk,  the  default  form  is 
to  boot  Workbench  and  then  open  Fine- 
print,  keeping  WB  in  the  drive  until 
the  program  is  fully  loaded.  (Other- 
wise, your  computer  won't  be  able  to 
find  its  own  parallel  port -but  we've  all 
had  days  like  that.) 

On  your  first  use,  you'll  have  to  use 
Fineprefs,  a  program  considerably  dif- 
ferent from  the  Preferences  you've  been 
using.  Fineprefs  allows  you  to  select 
from  a  long  list  of  printers  and  also  to 
choose  the  graphic  dot  density  for  that 
printer.  Our  advice  is  that  you  begin 
with  the  default  dot  setting. 

Fineprint  is  so  finely  tuned  that  you'll 
have  to  use  some  care  in  selecting 
equivalent  printers,  should  yours  not 
be  included  on  the  list.  In  my  own  case, 
I  felt  my  Panasonic  1092  should  per- 
form like  the  Panasonic  1091.  Not  so. 
After  several  frustrating  attempts,  I  de- 
cided to  call  it  an  Epson  MX-80  and 
everything  worked  fine. 

Now  open  the  Fineprint  program.  At 


4  MEGS  FOR  YOUR  AMTGA! 


RC4  RAMCARI) 

y/H  No  wail-stale  "fast"  memory. 

y@  Uses  standard  20  pin  DIP  DRAMs  (256k  x  4). 

•^J  All  32  RAM  chip  locations  are  socketed. 

w  Conforms  to  Amiga  aulo-config  protocol. 

■%S  Configurable  as  low  as  1/2  meg,  up  lo  4  megs! 

w  RAM  can  lie  added  in  1/2  meg  increments. 

S  Fully  assembled  and  tested 

y£  Includes  board  diagnostic  lest  and  recoverable  RAM  disk  software. 

A500A.)AITKR 

w  Allows  the  Digilronics  RCM  Ramcard  lo  be  used  on  ihe  Amiga  500. 

■^J  Quickly  connected  by  simply  sliding  i:  onto  Ihe  expansion  connector. 

t7  Self  powered  via  its  own  external  supply, 

■w  Automatically  powers  itself  on/off  with  Ihe  A500. 

w  Completely  enclosed  low  profile  melal  case. 


lyigitronics  | 


P.O.  Box  206 

Villanova,  PA  19085 

(215)  459-449.1 


*  Amiga  and  AmigaDos  an  iratkmarks  of  Commodore-Amlga  Inc. 


As  every  new  Amiga  owner  quickly  discovers,  memory  is  Ihe  key  to  unleashing 
the  full  power  of  iheir  machine  AmigaDos'  multitasking  operating  sysicm 
needs  room  to  Ilex  ils  muscles  in  order  lo  run  today's  more  sophisticated  larger 
programs.  Consequently,  memory  is  usually  first  on  every  Amiga  owner's 
shopping  list.  So,  wtial  Ls  Ihe  best  palh  for  upgrading? 

For  the  A2000,  a  2  meg  board  may  seem  Ihe  cheapest  way  lo  add  memory,  bill 
it's  loo  quickly  maxed  oul.  The  slicker  shock  of  an  8  meg  board  populated  with 
ils  minimum  configuration  of  2  megs  makes  this  route  unappealing  as  well.  The 
Digilronics  RC4  Ramcard  solves  these  problems. 

For  Ihe  A500.  the  same  RC4  Ramcard  designed  lo  plug  mlo  Ihe  A20O0  can  be 
plugged  into  the  expansion  slol  on  lhc  side  of  the  A500  when  installed  in  our 
adipier  box.  This  means  that  if  you  should  ever  upgrade  to  an  A200O.  vuur 
RAM  board  can  go  along. 

RC4  Ramcard  (assembled  and  tested) S22S.00  (Ok  RAM) 

Call  or  write  for  pricing  of  boards  populated  with  various  amounts  of  RAM,  or 
for  information  on  our  do-it-yourself  kits.  Dealer  inquiries  invited. 


Circle  #227  on  Reader  Service  Card 


Ahoyf's  AmlgaUser    57 


□  =  reviews  a  n 


i 


Printouts  with  Deluxe  Paint  (left)  and  Fineprint,  using  the  same  printer,  IFF  file,  and  density  printer  driver. 


the  top  of  the  screen  are  32  sliding  bars 
to  control  the  palette.  Since  we  are 
dealing  with  black  and  white,  you  may 
wonder  why  so  many,  Lo-res  IFF  pic- 
tures generally  use  a  32-color  palette, 
and  in  a  picture  containing  red  and 
black  and  dark  blue  the  three  colors 
will  all  appear  as  black  when  transla- 
ted to  a  gray  scale.  The  dedicated  slid- 
er bars  mean  you  can  deal  with  the 
three  blacks  individually. 

From  a  pull-down  menu,  you  can 
elect  to  work  with  three  palettes.  When 
a  picture  is  loaded,  it  defaults  to  pal- 
ette 1.  Keep  it  intact  and  do  your  ex- 
perimenting on  palette  2  or  3,  without 
risking  the  original  settings. 

Below  this  are  requestor  boxes  in 
which  you  can  set  the  size  of  your  fin- 
ished print  by  specifying  the  number 
of  dots  horizontally  and  vertically.  In 
using  this,  it  helps  that  one  of  the  items 
on  a  pulldown  menu— called  Printer 
Prefs— reminds  you  of  the  number  of 
dots  per  line  on  eight  inch  paper.  Un- 
less you  increase  or  decrease  both  di- 
mensions, you'll  find  yourself  with  a 
distorted  printout,  but  even  this  may  at 
times  be  used  creatively. 

Now  load  a  picture.  Unlike  many 
paint  programs.  Fineprint  is  forgiving 
in  this  area  and  will  load  IFF  pictures 
with  suffixes  such  as  .Win,  .Pic,  and 
even  those  with  the  v.  prefix  given  by 
Aegis  Images.  (It  will  not,  however, 
handle  HAM  pictures,  which  usually 
have  more  than  32  colors.) 

The  picture  appears  at  the  lower  left 
corner  of  the  screen,  along  with  infor- 
mation as  to  its  horizontal  and  verti- 
cal resolution.  Though  the  picture  is 
small,  detail  seems  to  come  through. 
Changing  slider  bars  on  the  palette  has 
an  immediate  effect  on  the  picture,  but 
that    effect    is    still    not    quite    a 

58     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


WYSIWYG.  My  experience  shows  that 
the  monitor  displays  lighter  than  the 
printer  image.  It  might  be  possible  to 
adjust  your  monitor  brightness  to  bring 
the  electronic  and  printed  images  clos- 
er together,  but  I  think  it's  hardly  worth 
the  trouble. 

Anyway,  we'll  assume  you've  loaded 
the  picture  and  manipulated  the  gray 
shades,  and  are  ready  to  print.  Before 
you  do,  go  to  the  Ribbon  menu  and  let 
Fineprint  know  whether  your  printer 
ribbon  is  New,  Medium,  or  Old.  It  will 
have  a  great  bearing  on  how  your  pic- 
ture is  printed.  And  for  a  change,  old- 
er ribbons  are  better. 

Remember  that  in  graphics  printing, 
the  quality  depends  on  dot  density:  the 
closer  dots  are  together,  the  denser  the 
line  printed.  Many  print  routines,  in- 
cluding the  gray  scale  of  Deluxe  Paint, 
creates  shades  of  gray  by  varying  the 
spacing  of  black  lines:  the  farther  apart 
the  lines,  the  lighter  the  "shade"  of  gray 
—and  the  final  print  has  many  of  the 
qualities  of  the  woodcut  once  used  in 
printing  presses. 

Fineprint  draws  a  picture  by  varying 
the  dot  density  and  by  making  multi- 
ple strikes  in  the  same  area,  with  line 
spacing  not  being  a  factor.  With  a  new 
ribbon,  three  strikes  would  result  in 
dense  black,  while  an  old  ribbon  would 
create  a  shade  of  gray.  An  older  rib- 
bon gives  the  program  a  greater  range 
of  strikes  to  produce,  creating  a  broad- 
er gray  scale,  and  the  result  is  much 
closer  to  the  half-tones  used  on  mod- 
ern printing  presses. 

(Note,  however,  that  since  this  scale 
is  created  on  a  line-by-line  basis,  the 
stairstep  effect  of  curved  and  diagonal 
lines  is  not  affected.) 

It  would  be  great  if  such  printed  pic- 
tures could  be  incorporated  into  desk- 


top publishing,  but  they  probably  can't. 
Though  Fineprint  does  allow  for 
precision  "centering— placement  of  pic- 
ture on  the  page— as  well  as  precision 
sizing,  the  exact  alignment  necessary 
for  rolling  back  your  publishing  paper 
in  order  to  insert  a  Fineprint  picture 
in  a  blank  space  is  probably  not  worth 
trying.  (We  only  mention  it  in  the  hope 
that  someone  will  try.) 

Although  Fineprint  was  designed  for 
images  that  will  fit  on  a  single  sheet 
of  paper,  there  is  said  to  be  almost  no 
limit  to  the  size  you  can  choose.  While 
the  manual  says  prints  of  100  feet  high 
can  be  achieved,  it  also  says  a  10  foot 
high  image  may  take  up  to  a  week  to 
print.  Deadlines  and  the  price  of  print- 
er ribbons  being  what  they  are,  I  veri- 
fied neither  claim. 

Large  prints  are  created  on  several 
sheets  of  paper,  which  must  then  be 
taped  together  to  form  a  whole.  The 
changing  quality  of  such  a  print -as 
your  ribbon  deteriorates  from  new  to 
old- is  not  addressed,  but  is  probably 
worth  at  least  a  passing  thought. 

Documentation  for  Fineprint  is  both 
good  and  brief.  Some  experimentation 
will  be  required  to  get  the  most  out  of 
the  program,  and  since  the  experiments 
will  require  printing,  you  can  use  this 
time  to  create  old  ribbons  out  of  new 
ones. 

In  the  meantime,  start  saving  the  rib- 
bons you'd  normally  use  to  tie  up  your 
little  brother.  You  may  have  to  teach 
him  some  other  diversions -Fall  On 
The  Cat  is  a  good  game -but  putting 
those  old  ribbons  to  a  more  creative 
use  may  be  worth  all  your  trouble. 

Designlab,  P.O.  Box  419,  Owego,  NY 
13827  (phone:  607-687-5740). 

—Ervin  Bobo 

Circle  #234  on  Reader  Service  Card 


El 


FLOTSAM 


sic 


Send  your  comments  on  any  aspect  of  Amiga  computing  to  Flotsam,  c/o  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser,  Ion  International  Inc.,  45 
W.  34th  St. -Suite  500,  New  York,  NY  10001.  Only  letters  that  are  typed  and  double  spaced  will  be  considered  for  inclusion. 


I  read  with  interest  your  review  of  my  program,  IntroCAD, 
and  was  favorably  impressed  by  your  candor,  even-handed- 
ness,  and  selection  of  topics.  I  have  two  comments: 

Your  review  states  that  IntroCAD's  plotter  output  cannot 
be  directed  to  a  file,  but  must  go  straight  to  the  plotter.  This 
is  not  true.  Plotter  output  (and  printer  output,  for  that  mat- 
ter) can  be  directed  to  a  file  very  easily  from  within  Intro- 
CAD by  clicking  on  a  gadget  and  typing  a  file  name. 

On  another  point,  your  criticism  of  IntroCAD's  exclusive 
use  of  the  interlaced,  high-resolution  graphics  mode  is  well- 
deserved.  I've  heard  enough:  IntroCAD  will  allow  selec- 
tion of  a  non-interlaced  mode  in  its  next  release. 

—Tim  Mooney 
Rockville,  MD 

I  am  writing  concerning  a  recent  product  review  by  Cleve- 
land Blakemore  in  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser  concerning  our  prod- 
uct Alien  Fires— 2199  A.D  Mr.  Blakemore's  review  is  filled 
with  unfounded  opinions,  presumptions,  and  outright  lies 
that  were  never  verified  with  anyone  at  Paragon  Software. 
Mr.  Blakemore's  ignorance  of  the  product  is  clearly  visi- 
ble when  he  presumes  that  the  program  was  written  in 
Amiga  Basic  when  in  actuality  it  was  written  in  C.  Blake- 
more continues  by  stating  that  he  suspects  Alien  Fires  might 
be  a  "compiled  game."  No  kidding,  Cleveland!  Most  pro- 
gramming code  is  compiled,  regardless  of  what  language 
it  is  written  in. 

These  presumptions  are  tame  in  comparison  to  the  bla- 
tant lies  printed  by  Blakemore.  Blakemore  says  that  the  char- 
acters are  well-drawn  but  lack  animation,  which  is  untrue. 
Several  of  the  characters  are  animated.  He  also  states  that 
at  the  end  of  the  game  a  player  must  "sit  quietly  while  the 
voice  synthesizer  takes  a  minute  or  two  to  tell  you  that  you 
are  dead."  The  actual  message  is  10  seconds,  a  far  cry  from 
a  minute  or  two. 

A  simple  phone  call  to  Paragon  Software  to  verify  the 
claims  of  the  review  could  have  prevented  the  factual  er- 
rors. I  wish  to  note  that  customer  response  to  the  product 
has  been  very  positive  and  Alien  Fires  has  received  excel- 
lent reviews  in  other  publications.  —F.J.  Lennon 

Vice  President  of  Marketing 
Paragon  Software 

We  clocked  the  delay  between  the  time  the  player  dies 
and  the  time  Alien  Fires  informs  him  of  that  fact  at  22  sec- 
onds—truly, "afar  cry  from  a  minute  or  two.' 

We  apologize  for  our  reviewer's  error.  But  the  two  other 
specific  objections  you  voice  stem  from  semantic  misinterpre- 
tations. 

In  saying  that  the  characters  in  Alien  Fires  lack  anima- 
tion," our  reviewer  did  not  mean  that  the  characters  were 
frozen  motionless.  He  meant  that  they  were  lacking  in  ani- 
mation —just  as  a  shortstop  who's  said  to  "lack  range"  can 


move  to  his  left  or  right  to  field  a  ball,  just  not  as  far  as 
Ozzie  Smith  can. 

In  saying  that  Alien  Fires'  scrolling  starfield  was  "remi- 
niscent of  Amiga  BASIC,"  our  writer's  contention  was  not 
that  the  game  was  programmed  in  Amiga  BASIC,  but  simply 
that  the  background  referred  to  was  so  primitive,  it  looked 
like  it  had  been. 

Our  writer's  overall  negative  view  of  the  game  was  based 
on  a  number  of  factors  you  don't  rebut:  poor  documenta- 
tion, bugs,  frequent  lock-ups,  limited  parser,  inadequate 
effects  and  graphics  in  the  combat  sequences,  use  of  the 
same  icon  for  all  opponents,  and  more.  Perhaps  it  was  in 
the  interest  of  brevity  (we  did  ask  you  to  keep  your  letter 
short  when  you  phoned  us)  that  you  did  not  address  your- 
self to  these  points— if  so,  we'd  be  glad  to  hear  your  thoughts, 
or  those  of  any  of  our  readers  with  an  opinion  either  way. 
In  any  case,  we  thank  you  for  taking  the  time  and  interest 
to  write  us,  and  hope  other  manufacturers  will  follow  your 
lead. 

Please  find  enclosed  my  subscription  coupon  for  Ahoyl's 
AmigaUser.  I  like  your  style.  If  you  are  open  to  new  ideas, 

Continued  on  page  74 


DeluxeHelp  Is  Available  For 


i 


5 


DeluxePaint 


$34-95* 


3 


DigiPaint 
S34-9S* 


Photon  Paint 


$34-95 


V 


k 


I  PageS etter     L      I  Calllgrapher  L 


*NEW*  $34-95* 


$44-95' 


"...I  see  DeluxeHelp  as  a  concept  that  could  be  adopted  by  all 
software  developers  as  standard  operating  procedure.  The 

interactive  tutorial's  day  has  come!..." 
-  INFO  Magazine,  #22  Sept/Oct'88,  p59  - 

"...live  demonstrations,  with  interactive  practice,  can 
greatly  speed  up  the  learning  curve.. .Our  experience 
with  DeluxeHelp  tends  to  confirm  that  theory..." 
-  Computer  Shopper  Magazine,  January  1988,  p318  - 


Coming  Soon  For: 


I  AmigaDOS  1.3  L       P 


PLUS  MANY  MORE! 


4 


RGB  VIDEO  CREATIONS 

3944  Florida  Blvd.  Suite  102 
Palm  Beach  Gardens,  Florida  33410 
407-622-0138    AmlgaLlnk  BBS:  407-622-7049 

•  Add  $3  US  Shipping  ($6  FOREIGN  Shipping) 

FL  Residents  Add  6%  state  tax 


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Ahoyl's  AmigaUser    59 


GET  ACCESS  TO  REAL  BUYING  POWER... 
WITH  THE  Alloy!  ACCESS  CLUB! 


\!i 


Subscribing  to  Ahoy!  and/or  Ahoyfs  AmigaUser  has  al- 
ways made  sense— for  you  and  for  us.  We  get  to  keep 
more  of  your  money  when  we  cut  out  the  middlemen  (our 
distributor  and  your  newsdealer),  and  we  kick  some  of  the 
savings  back  to  you  with  a  discount  rate. 

And  now  you  can  save  even  more— in  fact,  you  can  save 
the  cost  of  your  subscription  many  times  over! 

The  Ahoy!  Access  Club,  launched  in  January  1986,  has 
been  expanded  to  offer  its  members  even  more  clout  in 
the  Commodore  marketplace.  And  for  a  limited  time,  mem- 
bership will  be  awarded  free  to  subscribers! 

Here  are  some  of  the  ways  the  Ahoy!  Access  Club  can 
boost  your  buying  power: 

•  The  Ahoy!  Access  C!ub  Clipper,  published  12  times 
a  year,  contains  exclusive  discount  offers  on  products  ad- 
vertised in  Ahoy!  and  Ahoyfs  AmigaUser.  Participating  ven- 
dors offer  reductions  of  10%,  20%,  30%,  or  more  on  se- 
lected items,  free  bonus  merchandise,  and  special  close- 
out  and  combo  offers  not  advertised  elsewhere -all  for 
Club  members  only! 

•  The  Ahoy!  Access  Club  Card  is  your  ticket  to  discounts 
at  participating  computer  software,  hardware,  and  book 
dealers,  and  reduced  admission  at  Commodore  and  Am- 
iga conventions  and  swap  meets  across  North  America. 
(Details  are  found  in  each  issue  of  the  Clipper.) 

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AMIGA  RS-232C 

STANDARD 
COMMUNICATION 

By  Paul  Maioriello  and  George  Sokolowsky 


In  the  past.  Commodore  has  not  provided  a  standard 
serial  interface  for  its  popular  personal  computers. 
This  has  deprived  users  from  interfacing  to  a  wide 
variety  of  third  party  off-the-shelf  serial  peripher- 
als such  as  modems  or  even  other  computers.  This  article 
discusses  the  safe  and  simple  methods  of  constructing  the 
proper  cable  to  gel  your  Amiga  conversing  with  the  outside 
world. 

The  Amiga,  among  its  many  acclaimed  attributes,  has 
been  blessed  with  a  standard  RS-232C  serial  port.  This  al- 
lows the  Amiga  to  communicate  without  the  need  of  buying 
expensive  non-standard  interface  adapters  that  perform  volt- 
age conversions.  Some  basic  concepts  and  keywords  should 
be  mentioned  before  deciding  what  type  of  interface  cable 
should  be  constructed.  We  will  go  into  some  detail,  so 
please,  do  not  be  overwhelmed,  shrug  your  shoulders,  and 
give  up!  It  is  really  a  lot  easier  than  it  appears. 

Most  personal  commputers  with  standard  RS-232C  serial 
ports  are  configured  as  a  DTE  (data  terminal  equipment) 
port.  The  most  common  modems,  known  as  Hayes  or  Hayes 
compatible  modems,  are  configured  as  DCE  (data  commun- 
ications equipment)  The  interface  cable  for  a  DTE  to  DCE 
connection  is  simply  a  pin  to  pin  direct  wire  cable.  If  the 
modem  is  DTE,  such  as  a  Microcom  modem,  or  if  perhaps 
you  desire  to  interface  with  a  hardwire  fink  to  another  Am- 
iga or  IBM  PC,  the  interface  cable  for  the  DTE  to  DTE 
connection  is  a  data  crossover  cable  commonly  referred  to 
as  a  null  modem.  Now  we  will  slowly  explain  what  all  this 
means  to  you. 

The  difference  between  DTE  and  DCE  is  the  arrange- 
ment of  data  pins  2  and  3  of  the  25  pin  D  shaped  connec- 
tors called  DB25  connectors.  Figure  I  shows  the  9  pins  of 
a  DTE  to  DCE  (Amiga  to  modem)  interface  cable.  Notice 
pin  2  (TXD)  of  the  Amiga  side  goes  to  pin  2  (TXD)  of 
the  modem  side.  This  tells  us  the  data  being  transmitted 
from  the  Amiga  is  going  to  be  transmitted  from  the  modem; 
therefore  it  must  go  to  the  transmit  data  pin  on  the  modem. 
Similarly,  pin  3  (RXD)  of  the  Amiga  is  receiving  the  data 
being  received  by  pin  3  (RXD)  of  the  modem. 

Another  necessary  pin  to  pin  connection  is  pin  7  (GND) 
to  pin  7  (GND),  which  is  the  common  data  ground  refer- 
ence level  for  the  RXD  and  TXD  pins  on  both  sides.  Figure 
2  shows  a  minimal  3  wire  diagram,  which  is  all  that  is  real- 
ly needed  to  provide  a  DTE  to  DCE  interface.  The  other 
six  pin  to  pin  connections  in  Figure  1  are  really  only  need- 


ed when  there  is  elaborate  software  to  take  advantage  of 
these  special  signals.  What  these  signals  do  is  beyond  the 
scope  of  our  discussion  and  may  be  addressed  in  the  fu- 
ture. A  good  rule  of  thumb  is  to  keep  the  interface  simple: 
there  is  less  to  go  wrong. 

If  the  modem  you  select  is  not  a  Hayes  or  compatible 
modem,  you  should  refer  to  the  modem  manual  to  find  if 
the  modem  is  a  DCE  or  DTE  type.  If  you  can't  find  any 
mention  of  the  type,  a  pin  diagram  flow  will  help  provide 
the  needed  information.  If  pin  2  of  the  modem  is  labeled 
TXD  with  the  source  of  the  signal  labeled  as  computer, 
terminal,  or  left  blank,  then  the  modem  is  a  DCE  type  and 
will  require  the  pin  to  pin  direct  method.  If  pin  2  of  the 
modem  is  labeled  TXD  with  the  bit  stream  (source  of  data) 
labeled  as  being  sent  from  the  modem,  then  the  null  mo- 
dem cable  is  the  one  you  need. 

A  null  modem  cable  reverses  data  pins  2  and  3  of  the 
Amiga  and  modem.  It  stands  to  reason  that  the  data  being 
received  by  the  Amiga  on  pin  3  must  come  from  the  data 
being  transmitted  back  to  the  Amiga  on  pin  2  from  the  mo- 
dem. Similarly,  the  data  stream  being  transmitted  on  pin 
2  from  the  Amiga  must  be  collected  on  receive  pin  3  of 
the  modem.  Figure  3  shows  the  crossing  of  data  wires  we 
have  just  discussed.  For  safety  reasons  it  is  very  important 
that  pin  I  goes  to  pin  1  and  pin  7  goes  to  pin  7.  Pin  1  is 
the  frame  ground  and  pin  7  is  the  reference  data  ground. 
Note  that  these  are  two  distinctly  different  ground  signals, 
although  they  both  bear  the  same  GND  label;  therefore, 
they  should  not  be  connected  to  each  other. 

Another  more  elaborate  null  modem  scheme  can  be  seen 
in  Figure  4.  This  diagram  is  another  alternative  which  will 
take  advantage  of  additional  signals,  providing  the  modem 
has  CTS  and  DSR  capability  and  the  software  is  intelligent 
enough  to  handle  the  signals.  This  null  modem  cable  can 
also  be  used  to  connect  the  Amiga  to  another  Amiga  or 
another  computer  which  has  an  RS232C  serial  port. 

Once  you've  determined  the  type  of  cable  you  need,  you'll 
need  the  correct  DB25  plugs,  even  lengths  of  wire  (color 
coded  up  to  50'  is  the  best),  rosin  base  solder,  and  a  low 
wattage  (l5-35w)  soldering  iron.  You  will  need  one  con- 
nector to  plug  into  the  Amiga.  If  you  own  the  Amiga  1000 
you  will  need  a  male  DB25  connector.  Amiga  500/2000 
owners  must  purchase  a  female  DB25  connector.  If  the 
modem  has  a  male  connector  you'll  need  a  female  connector 
to  complete  the  cable  on  the  modem  side,  or  if  the  mo- 


dem  has  a  female  port,  you  will  need  a  male  connector. 

The  DB25  connectors  can  be  obtained  at  local  electron- 
ics stores  such  as  Radio  Shack,  or  at  electronic  or  compu- 
ter Ilea  markets.  Take  care  when  soldering  the  wires  to  the 
pin  connectors.  Be  sure  there  are  no  split  strands  of  wire 
touching  other  pins  and  no  solder  runovers  which  could 
cause  short  circuits.  If  you  are  not  sure  of  what  to  do,  con- 
tact a  friend  in  a  users  group  or  visit  a  local  TV  technician 
for  assistance.  Incorrect  wiring  could  possibly  cause  dam- 
age to  the  Amiga,  modem,  or  both,  voiding  any  warranties. 
Remember,  the  only  dumb  question  is  the  one  you  don't  ask! 

Both  the  Amiga  and  the  equipment  you  wish  to  commun- 
icate with  should  be  switched  off  when  the  cable  is  connec- 


ted. You  should  then  load  your  communications  package 
(such  as  AmigaUserTerm  from  the  May  issue  of  Ahoy  Is  Am- 
igaUser)  and  follow  the  instructions  for  communications. 
If  you  are  using  AmigaUserTerm  and  are  sure  it  was  typed 
in  correctly,  and  have  checked  the  baud  rate,  data  bits,  and 
cable  connections,  and  the  modem  still  refuses  to  respond 
to  the  Amiga,  it's  possible  you  have  the  wrong  type  inter- 
face cable.  The  modem  may  be  a  DTE  type  and  need  a 
null  modem  type  cable  instead  of  a  pin  to  pin  direct,  or 
it  may  be  a  DCE  and  need  a  pin  to  pin  direct  instead  of 
a  null  modem.  Construct  the  other  cable  by  reversing  pins 
2  and  3  on  one  side  only,  and  attempt  to  run  your  com- 
munications package  again.  □ 


DTE  (Amiga) 

FIGURE  1:  PIN  TO  PIN  DIRECT 

DCE  (modem) 

Frame  Ground 

GND  1 
TXD  2 
RXD3 
CTS  5 
DSR6 
GND  7 
DCD8 
SD  12 
R122 

1  GND 

2  TXD 
3RXD 

5  CTS 

6  DSR 

7  GND 

8  DCD 
12  SI 
22  Rl 

Frame  Ground 
Transmit  Data 
Receive  Data 
Clear  to  Send 
Data  Set  Ready 
Signal  Ground 
Data  Carrier  Detect 
High  Speed  Indicator 
Ring  Indicator 

Transmit  Data 

Receive  Data 

Clear  to  Send 

Data  Set  Ready 

Signal  Ground 

Data  Carrier  Detect 

Secondary  Detect 

Ring  Indicator 

DT 

E  (Amiga) 

FIGURE  2:  SIMPLE  PIN  TO  PIN  DIRECT 

DCE  (modem) 

Transmit  Data 

TXD  2 
RXD3 
GND  7 

2  TXD 

3  RXD 
7  GND 

Transmit  Data 
Receive  Data 
Signal  Ground 

Receive  Data 

Signal  Ground 

Dl 

'E  (Amiga) 

FIGURE  3:  SIMPLE  NULL  MODEM 

NOTE:  Keep  Pins  1  and  7  separate!! 

DTE  (modf 

sm  or  computer) 

Frame  Ground 

GND  1 
TXD  2 
RXD3 
GND  7 

1  GND 
3  RXD 

2  TXD 

7  GND 

Frame  Ground 
Receive  Data 
Transmit  Data 
Signal  Ground 

Transmit  Data 

Receive  Data 

Signal  Ground 

D 

TE  (Amiga) 

FIGURE  4:  FULL  NULL  MODEM 

DTE  (mode 

m  or  computer) 

Frame  Ground 
Transmit  Data 
Receive  Data 
Request  to  Send 
Signal  Ground 
Data  Terminal  Ready 


GND1 

TXD  2 

RXD  3 

RTS4 

GND  7 

DTR20 

1  GND 

3  RXD 

2  TXD 

5  CTS 

7  GND 

6  DSR 

Frame  Ground 
Receive  Data 
Transmit  Data 
Clear  to  Send 
Signal  Ground 
Data  Set  Ready 


62    Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


Circle  #188  on  Reader  Service  Card 


F.  FL  01  HL/SPft 


The  Art  Gallery  offers  the  opportunity  for  fame  and  for- 
tune to  aspiring  Commodore  artists.  Send  your  work  on  disk 
to  Art  Gallery;  Ion  International  Inc.,  45  Wesl  34th  Street- 
Suite  500.  New  York.  NY  10001.  Label  each  disk  with  the 
date  of  your  submission,  your  name  and  address,  the  number 
of  images  on  the  disk,  and  the  graphics  or  paint  program  used. 
Graphics  produced  on  the  Amiga  are  eligible  for  inclusion  in 
Ahayt's  AmigaUser:  C-64.  C-128.  and  Plus/4  images  are  eligible 
for  inclusion  in  Ahoy!  If  your  image  is  published,  you  will 
receive  a  free  one-year  subscription.  Current  subscribers  will 
have  their  subscription  extended  by  one  year. 

Note  that  the  Art  Gallery  is  not  a  contest.  Published  pic- 
tures are  selected  in  an  arbitrary  and  capricious  fashion  by 
the  Art  Director,  based  solely  on  their  artistic  merit. 


64    Ahoy!'$  AmigaUser 


On  the  feeing  page,  top  left:  Mantis  by  Glenn  S.  Adkins  (Palm  Beach  Gardens,  FL).  Deluxe  Paint's  brush  select 
tool  was  used  to  place  the  wall  units;  the  mantis  is  rendered  freehand,  with  occasional  use  of  the  curved  line 
mode  for  the  outline.  Middle  left:  Checkerboard  Sun  by  Kiernan  Holland  (Roanoke,  TX)  on  Deluxe  Paint.  Bottom 
left:  Mountain,  also  by  Glenn  S.  Adkins.  Above:  Gill  Wichi  (New  York,  NY)  started  with  Deluxe  Paint  II,  digitized 
Mr.  Spock  with  Perfect  Vision,  and  used  Photon  Paint  to  wrap  him  around  a  cube.  Below  left:  Socky  laid  Asleep 
by  Alisa  Lowden  (State  College,  PA).  Below  right:  Zero  Gravity,  in  hires  by  Gary  Domingucz  (Oklahoma  City,  OK). 


Ahoyl's  AmigaUser    65 


AND  THE  BYTE  GOES  ON 

Drum  Machines  for  the  Amiga 

By  Steve  King 

chine  to  play  specified  percussion  sounds  at  different  times. 
The  realism,  of  course,  depends  upon  both  the  quality  of 
the  sound  itself,  and  the  ability  of  the  user  to  create  au- 
thentic sounding  drum  patterns.  While  there  are  a  good 
number  of  dedicated  drum  machines  on  the  market  (costing 
upwards  of  several  hundred  dollars),  they  do  have  limita- 
tions. In  many,  the  number  of  sounds  is  limited  and  fixed, 
and  editing  becomes  tedious  if  not  difficult.  A  computer, 
however,  eliminates  these  drawbacks. 

Three  drum  programs  will  be  discussed,  compared,  and 
reviewed  in  this  article:  Adrum  by  Haitex  Resources,  Inc.; 
The  Drum  Studio  by  DigfTek;  and  Dynamic  Drums  by  New 
Wave  Software. 

Initially,  I  should  note  that  all  three  programs  are  sim- 
ilar in  concept.  They  all  utilize  digitized  percussion  sound 
samples  which  are  loaded  from  disk  into  memory,  and  they 


The  easy  to  use  Drum  Studio  contains  two  sets  of  pre- 
selected percussion  sounds  and  a  set  often  volume  meters. 

The  Amiga  is  an  incredibly  powerful  and  versatile 
computer,  and  unlike  most  PC's  has  four  built-in 
sound  synthesizer  circuits.  These  circuits  are 
capable  of  reproducing  quite  acceptable  stereo 
output.  Anyone  who  has  heard  a  musical  score  played  on 
one  of  the  many  music  programs,  or  sound  effects  in  games, 
will  agree.  Moreover,  the  Amiga  can  record  and  store  digi- 
tized sound  samples  in  a  standardized  format  called  IFF 
which  virtually  all  sound  related  programs  can  utilize.  This 
opens  up  endless  creative  programming  possibilities.  One 
of  these  is  using  the  Amiga  as  a  programmable  drum 
machine. 

Simply  speaking,  a  drum  machine  simulates  a  drummer 
in  a  band.  The  user  sets  the  tempo  and  programs  the  ma- 


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SjMttt  All  Oconpms  of  {ran  i_ 


Dynamic  Drum  provides  great  flexibility  in  modifying  in- 
dividual sounds.  Up  to  ten  can  be  loaded  in  at  one  time. 


Adrum  supplies  26  sounds,  represented  by  the  letters  A 
through  Z.  To  hear  a  sound,  press  the  corresponding  key. 

all  play  back  those  sounds  in  user-defined  patterns  which 
can  be  combined  in  any  order  to  create  a  "drum  score"  for 
an  entire  song.  One  important  note  is  that  the  term  "drum 
sound"  is  used  here  quite  liberally.  It  refers  to  any  digitized 
sound  sample,  which  could  be  a  cough  or  laugh  as  well 
as  a  snare  or  bass  drum.  And  the  ability  to  use  any  sound 
as  a  drum  opens  up  a  myriad  of  creative  options  which  can- 
not be  equalled  by  most  dedicated  drum  machines.  One 
final  point  is  that  all  three  programs  can  use  any  digitized 
sound  that  is  saved  in  IFF  format. 

In  testing  the  MIDI  capability  of  these  programs,  I  used 
a  MIDI  interface  distributed  by  Date!,  Inc.  Housed  in  a  stur- 
dy plastic  case,  it  plugs  into  the  A2000/A500  serial  port 
through  a  ribbon  cable.  What  is  impressive  about  this  prod- 
uct is  that  it  not  only  supports  MIDI  in  and  through,  but 
has  three  separate  MIDI  out  connectors  which  would  permit 


66     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


THE  BEST  THERE  IS  ON  THE  AMIGA! 


Ahoy!! 


auser 


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-J.     ^    -1-    _T- 





„  -•    >-4»h 


the  Amiga  to  drive  several  other  MIDI-compatible  devices 
simultaneously.  Needless  to  say,  it  worked  flawlessly. 


AMWM 

Adrian  is  a  well  designed  program  making  full  use  of 
the  mouse  and  pulldown  menus.  The  control  panel  which 
appears  when  the  program  is  loaded  is  well-designed  and 
easy  to  use.  The  standard  drumkits  (groups  of  individual 
drum  sounds)  supplied  by  Haitex  contain  26  sounds 
represented  by  the  letters  A  through  Z,  and  these  letters 
span  the  top  of  the  control  panel.  To  hear  a  particular  sound, 
you  simply  press  the  key  on  the  keyboard  that  corresponds 
to  the  letter.  When  you  click  on  the  box  containing  that  letter, 
the  sound  becomes  active  and  pertinent  information  about 
the  sound  (its  name,  sampling  rate,  volume,  and  length  in 
bytes)  is  displayed  at  the  bottom  left  of  the  panel.  And  all 
of  these  values  can  be  modified  to  produce  different  sounds. 


COMPARISON  CHART 

Adrum 

Dynamic  Drums 

Drum  Studio 

Price 

$79.95 

$79.95 

$29.95 

Copy  Protected 

No 

No 

No 

Number  of  Sounds  Included 

27 

101 

20 

Number  of  Drumkits  Included 

3 

11 

2 

Maximum  sounds  in  memory 

26 

10 

20 

Maximum  patterns  in  memory 

64 

10 

100 

Maximum  length  of  pattern 

64  notes 

64  notes 

96  notes 

Load/Save  individual  patterns 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Tempo  range 

60-1082 

40-240 

30-240 

Sound  modification 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Loads  other  IFF  sounds 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Quantizing  capability 

No 

Yes 

No 

Automatic  repeat 

No 

Yes 

No 

MIDI  capability 

In  and  Out 

In  and  Out 

No 

Notes/Clock 

Notes/Clock 

Recording  modes 

Mouse;  real 

Mouse;  real 

Real  time  with 

time  with 

time  with 

keyboard 

keyboard  and 

keyboard  and 

MIDI  devices 

MIDI  devices 

For  example,  increasing  the  rate  will  raise  the  pitch,  and 
decreasing  the  length  will  result  in  only  a  portion  of  the 
sound  being  played.  Once  a  sound  is  modified,  it  can  easily 
be  saved  to  diskette  as  a  different  sound.  For  accenting  ef- 
fects, you  can  take  the  same  sound  (such  as  a  bass  drum) 
and  save  it  with  different  volume  levels.  You  can  also  replace 
sounds  in  a  drumkit  by  clicking  on  the  letter  you  want  to 
use  and  loading  in  the  new  sound  from  disk  (which  will, 
of  course,  erase  the  original  sound  from  memory).  If  you 
wish,  you  can  create  a  different  set  of  drums  and  then  save 
the  new  drumkit  to  disk. 

Drum  patterns  can  be  created  in  three  different  ways.  But 
regardless  of  which  method  you  use,  there  is  a  bit  of  initial 
housekeeping  to  do.  First,  you  select  the  measure  number 


you  want  to  create  or  edit  by  using  the  slider  control  in  the 
Measure  Editor  section  of  the  panel.  Next  you  must  select 
the  number  of  beats  in  that  measure,  up  to  a  maximum  of 
64,  and  the  tempo.  Finally,  you  must  decide  which  of  the 
four  available  tracks  you  want  to  use,  as  two  are  assigned 
to  the  right  stereo  channel  and  two  to  the  left.  An  impor- 
tant point  to  remember  is  that  the  physical  hardware  con- 
straints of  the  Amiga  permit  only  four  sounds  to  be  played 
at  any  one  time,  and  this  limitation  applies  to  all  the  drum 
programs  discussed  in  this  article.  To  enter  a  drum  sound 
using  the  mouse  (Step-writing),  you  first  click  on  the  letter 
of  the  sound  you  want  to  use.  Then  simply  move  the  mouse 
pointer  to  one  of  the  four  horizontal  bars  in  the  Measure 
Editor  section  corresponding  to  the  track  you  have  chosen, 
and  click  the  left  mouse  button  when  the  pointer  is  above 
the  dot  representing  the  beat  number  where  you  want  the 
drum  to  begin  playing.  For  example,  if  you  have  selected 
eight  beats  per  measure  and  want  the  snare  drum  to  play 
every  other  beat  on  track  one,  you  first  click  on  the  letter 
for  the  snare.  Then  go  to  the  Track  One  bar  and  click  the 
mouse  above  the  second,  fourth,  sixth,  and  eighth  dot.  When 
you  do  this,  the  letter  representing  the  snare  will  actually 
appear  in  the  bar  above  the  dots  so  you  can  see  which  instru- 
ment you  selected  and  when  it  will 
sound.  Now,  to  hear  what  your  com- 
position sounds  like,  click  on  the 
"Playing  button,  and  the  measure  will 
play  once.  If  you  also  click  on  the  "Re- 
peat" button,  the  measure  will  play  con- 
tinuously until  you  click  on  the  "Stop" 
button.  As  the  drums  play<  a  vertical 
bar  sweeps  over  the  four  track  bars  to 
indicate  exactly  where  you  are  in  the 
measure. 

If  you  wish  (and  have  a  great  sense 
of  rhythm  and  timing),  you  can  also 
enter  the  drum  sounds  on  the  fly  in  real 
time.  Just  choose  the  Live-write  mode 
from  the  menu,  select  the  track,  and 
click  on  the  "Repeat"  and  "Playm>" 
buttons,  and  the  program  begins  re- 
cording. Now  every  time  you  press  a 
key  corresponding  to  a  particular 
sound,  it  will  be  recorded  in  the  spot 
where  the  sweeping  vertical  bar  is  lo- 
cated when  you  press  the  key.  Simul- 
taneously, previously  entered  drum  sounds  will  play.  You 
can  also  enter  notes  with  a  MIDI-compatible  musical  key- 
board by  selecting  the  MIDI  In  option  from  the  control  pan- 
el. Before  you  attempt  to  Live-write,  I  suggest  that  you  use 
the  mouse  to  create  a  metronome  track.  Additionally,  you 
may  place  different  drum  sounds  on  the  same  track,  although 
as  soon  as  one  plays  it  will  cut  off  the  previous  sound  (if 
it  is  long  and  still  playing). 

But  what  happens  if  you  make  a  mistake,  or  are  a  bit 
off  in  your  timing?  Editing  is  quite  easy  with  Adrum.  Using 
the  Insert  and  Delete  menu  commands,  you  can  shift  sounds 
right  or  left.  Click  on  the  letters  in  the  track  bar  with  the 
right  mouse  button  and  the  sound  will  disappear.  You  can 
even  copy  one  measure  to  another. 


68     Ahoyi's  Amigallser 


Now  that  you  have  a  perfect  sounding  measure,  or  a  num- 
ber of  different  measures,  it's  time  to  combine  them  into 
the  proper  sequence  to  create  the  drum  track  for  an  entire 
song.  At  the  bottom  right  of  the  control  panel  is  the  Track 
Edit  Panel  where  you  sequentially  enter  the  measure  num- 
ber you  want  played  and  the  number  of  times  it  should  play. 
For  instance,  if  you  want  a  song  to  play  measure  1  four 
times,  measure  3  eight  times,  and  measure  2  sixteen  times, 
the  Track  Edit  Panel  will  look  as  follows: 

1  x         4 
3x8 

2  x       16 
END  OF  SEQ 

Again,  if  you  made  a  mistake,  inserting  and  deleting  mea- 
sures is  just  a  click  of  the  mouse  away.  Finally,  to  play  your 
entire  sequence,  click  on  the  "Play"  button  and  hear  your 
masterpiece.  If  you're  satisfied  with  it,  you  can  now  save 
it  to  disk  for  future  use,  drumkit  and  all. 

One  last  feature  worth  mentioning  is  that  Adrum  has  MIDI 
out  capability.  Simply  speaking,  you  can  use  one  of  the  four 
tracks  (without  sounds)  to  send  timed  pulses  to  another 
MIDI-compatible  instrument,  including  another  Amiga,  to 
synchronize  its  tempo  with  Adrum. 


A  DRUM  STUDIO 

The  Drum  Studio  is  quite  different  from  both  Adrum  and 
Dynamic  Drums.  It  is  a  very  simple  program  and  quite  easy 
to  use.  Although  it  is  not  nearly  as  powerful  as  the  other 
two,  it  is  also  the  lowest  priced. 

Drum  Studio  contains  two  sets  of  preselected  percussion 
sounds.  Set  A  is  selected  by  pressing  the  CTRL  key,  and 
Set  B  by  pressing  the  Lett  Shift  key.  The  sounds  themselves 
are  played  by  pressing  the  individual  function  keys,  and  Digi- 
Tek  has  been  thoughtful  enough  to  provide  a  template  to 
fit  above  the  function  keys  that  identifies  the  sounds. 

The  control  panel  is  quite  graphic.  Its  distinguishing  fea- 
ture is  a  set  often  volume  meters— one  for  each  of  the  in- 
struments. As  the  sounds  are  played,  the  levels  rise  and  fell, 
much  like  LED  VU  meters  of  audio  equipment.  Drum  Stu- 
dio uses  the  keyboard  rather  than  the  mouse  to  control  all 
its  functions,  and  this  can  be  confusing  at  times. 

There  is  only  one  way  to  record  drum  patterns— by  press- 
ing the  function  keys  in  real  time  to  the  beat  of  the  built-in 
metronome.  And  the  only  way  to  correct  any  individual  mis- 
takes is  to  put  the  program  into  the  Erase  Mode  and  press 
the  function  key  of  the  sound  you  want  to  erase  at  the  pre- 
cise moment  it  sounds  (good  luck).  Holding  down  the  ap- 
propriate function  key  throughout  the  entire  measure  will 
erase  that  particular  sound  completely.  There  is  also  a  pro- 
vision tor  copying  one  measure  to  another.  Drum  Studio 
also  permits  linking  patterns  to  form  songs,  but  to  play  a 
pattern  sequentially  more  than  once,  you  must  enter  its  num- 


ber again  each  time  you  want  it  played.  Unfortunately,  there 
is  no  way  to  edit  the  pattern  sequence,  so  if  you  make  a 
mistake  you  have  to  start  from  scratch.  Moreover,  the  only 
way  to  know  which  drums  are  being  played  when  is  to  listen 
after  you  have  recorded  them,  as  the  program  lacks  a  visual 
means  of  identification  and  placement. 

There  are  two  other  modes  in  Drum  Studio  which  are 
selected  by  pressing  the  TAB"  key:  Tuning  and  Level.  In 
the  tuning  mode,  you  can  raise  or  lower  the  pitch  of  the 
drums  by  pressing  certain  keys  on  the  keyboard.  The  ten 
keys  "Q"  through  "P"  and  "A"  through  ";"  increase  and  de- 
crease the  pitch  of  the  ten  active  sounds  respectively  when 
they  are  pressed.  The  same  method  adjusts  the  volume  level 
of  each  drum  and  is  reflected  in  the  level  of  the  LED  me- 
ter on  the  control  panel.  One  other  unique  feature  is  that 
the  power  light  on  the  Amiga  actually  flashes  to  the  beat 
of  the  drums,  acting  as  a  visual  metronome. 


DYNAMIC  DRUMS 

Of  all  the  drum  programs,  Dynamic  Drums  is  perhaps 
the  most  sophisticated  and  powerful.  The  control  panel  is 
comprised  of  four  separate  windows,  three  of  which  are 
visible  at  the  outset.  The  left  half  of  the  screen  displays 
the  Drum  Keypad  Window.  Dynamic  Drums  only  loads  in 
ten  sounds  at  a  time,  and  these  are  represented  by  the  num- 
ber keys  on  the  numeric  keypad.  The  Drum  Keypad  Window 
graphically  depicts  the  keypad  with  the  name  of  the  drum 
sound  on  the  appropriate  key.  The  Graphic  Pattern  Display 
takes  up  the  bottom  right  quarter  of  the  screen,  and  the  Song 
Window  is  located  at  the  top  right  quarter. 

To  record  a  pattern,  simply  click  on  the  "Record"  button 
in  the  Pattern  window  and  a  small  graphic  metronome  be- 
gins to  sound  and  swing  back  and  forth.  Additionally,  the 
beat  number  is  displayed  above  the  metronome.  There  is 
a  maximum  number  of  eight  beats  per  measure.  The  Graphic 
Pattern  Display  Window  is  set  up  as  a  matrix  with  the  beat 
number  (one  through  eight)  across  the  top,  and  the  instru- 
ment number  (one  through  ten)  from  top  to  bottom.  As  you 
play  back  or  record,  a  vertical  white  bar  sweeps  from  left 
to  right  to  indicate  the  beat  number  being  played.  As  you 
record  a  particular  drum,  a  small  blue  rectangle  appears 


For  more  information, 

contact: 

MIDI  Interface: 

Dynamic  Drums: 

Datel  Computers 

New  Wave  Software 

3430  W.  Tropicana  Ave. 

P.O.  Box  438 

Unit  #67 

St.  Clair  Shores,  MI  48080 

Las  Vegas,  NV  89121 

Drum  Studio: 

Adrum: 

DitiTek,  Inc. 

Haitex  Resources 

10415  N.  Florida  Ave. 

208  Carrolton  Park 

Suite  410 

Suite  1207 

Tampa,  FL  336J2 

Carrolton,  TX  75006 

Ahoyl's  AmigaUser     69 


at  the  intersection  of  the  beat  and  drum  numbers.  At  the 
bottom  of  the  window  is  a  template  showing  what  each  of 
the  function  keys  controls  or  activates.  Drum  sounds  can 
be  entered  in  three  different  ways:  the  keyboard,  the  mouse. 
and  a  MIDI-compatible  instrument. 

Entering  the  sounds  through  the  keyboard  is  quite  simi- 
lar to  the  other  programs.  You  press  the  key  corresponding 
to  the  sound  when  you  want  it  to  play.  One  additional  and 
quite  important  feature  is  the  ability  to  quantize,  or  round 
off,  notes  to  user-selectable  values  down  to  l/32nd  notes, 
often  referred  to  as  automatic  error  correction.  Thus  if  you 
set  Quantize  to  '4 ,  the  program  will  place  the  sound  you 
play  on  the  nearest  14  note  beat,  even  if  you  were  a  little 
off  on  your  timing.  Another  unique  feature  is  the  repeat 
function  which  is  activated  by  pressing  the  "."  key  simul- 
taneously with  the  number  key.  By  setting  the  Repeat  func- 
tion to  a  particular  value  {i.e.,  eighth  notes),  the  program 
will  automatically  place  that  sound  precisely  at  eighth  note 
intervals  when  you  record  a  sound  and  also  press  the  "." 
key.  Both  of  these  time-saving  features  are  extraordinarily 
useful.  One  other  sound-related  function  provides  the  abil- 
ity to  accent  a  drum  beat  in  one  of  two  different  modes 
by  pressing  either  the  "Enter"  or  "— "  key  simultaneously 
with  the  sound  key.  When  you  do  this,  Dynamic  Drums 
changes  the  tuning  of  the  sound  slightly,  either  upwards  or 
downwards,  to  produce  an  accent  effect. 

To  actually  record  a  pattern,  you  first  select  one  of  the 
ten  pattern  banks  labeled  A  through  J  by  clicking  on  the 
appropriate  box  with  the  mouse.  Then  simply  click  on  the 
'"Record"  button  and  you're  off  and  drumming.  As  in  Adrum, 
you  also  have  the  ability  to  enter  notes  using  a  MIDI-com- 
patible device,  such  as  a  musical  keyboard  or  drumpads. 
Finally,  you  can  enter  sounds  by  moving  the  mouse  point- 
er to  the  spot  on  the  display  corresponding  to  the  drum  num- 
ber and  beat  and  click  the  left  mouse  button.  Clicking  on 
that  same  spot  a  second  time  will  provide  an  accented  sound, 
and  a  third  time  will  delete  it.  To  hear  your  pattern,  just 
stop  recording  and  click  on  the  "Play"  button.  When  you 
are  satisfied  with  your  pattern,  click  on  another  letter  to 
begin  the  next  one.  Individual  patterns  can  be  saved  to  and 
loaded  from  disk. 

Dynamic  Drums  provides  enormous  flexibility  in  modi- 
fying each  individual  sound.  Hidden  behind  the  Drum  Key- 
pad Window  is  the  Drum  Control  Window.  When  brought 
to  the  front,  it  displays  a  myriad  of  sliders  and  switches 
in  a  vertical  column  for  each  of  the  ten  sounds.  The  top 
row  of  sliders  sets  the  volume  for  each  sound,  and  the  sec- 
ond row  allows  you  to  change  the  pitch.  Beneath  the  slid- 
ers are  two  rows  of  switches.  The  first  row  lets  you  select 
on  which  of  the  four  audio  channels  the  sound  will  play, 
and  is  quite  useful  in  preventing  conflicts.  If  you  find  that 
one  of  your  sounds  is  cancelling  the  other  out  (because  they 
are  playing  on  the  same  channel  at  the  same  time),  simply 
change  one  of  them  to  a  different  channel.  The  second  row 
of  switches  turns  the  random  function  on  and  off.  If  you 
turn  a  sound's  random  function  on,  then  every  time  you 
play  an  accented  sound  its  tuning  and  volume  will  vary  ran- 
domly, creating  a  distinctively  less  repetitive  pattern.  Be- 
neath these  switches  are  similar  pitch,  volume,  and  chan- 
nel controls  for  the  accented  sounds.  Finally,  to  the  left  of 

70    Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


the  window  is  a  long  slider  which  permits  fine  tuning  of 
any  of  the  levels. 

Once  you  have  created  all  your  patterns,  go  to  the  Song 
Window  (at  the  upper  right  of  the  screen)  to  combine  them 
into  a  song.  At  the  top  of  that  window  you  will  find  a  rec- 
tangular box  to  the  right  of  the  word  SONG:  which  you 
click  in  to  activate.  Now,  simply  type  in  the  order  of  the 
pattern  in  the  form  "number  of  times  played"  followed  by 
the  pattern  letter.  If  you  wanted  your  song  to  play  pattern 
A  three  times  followed  by  pattern  B  played  twice,  type  in 
3A2B.  Now  just  click  on  the  PLAY  button  to  hear  your  com- 
position. If  you  made  a  mistake,  or  merely  want  to  change 
the  order  of  the  patterns,  you  can  use  the  cursor  keys  with 
Back  Space  or  DEL. 

Another  time  saving  feature  is  what  New  Wave  calls  "Sub- 
songs."  Beneath  the  Song  Box  are  three  other  rectangles  la- 
beled X,  Y,  and  Z.  You  can  type  linked  patterns  in  these 
boxes  and  then  refer  to  the  X,  Y,  and  Z  Subsongs  in  the 
Song  Box,  using  them  much  like  subroutines  in  a  computer 
program.  For  example,  you  can  accomplish  the  same  result 
as  the  song  above  by  typing  3A2B  in  the  X  box,  and  sim- 
ply typing  the  letter  "X"  in  the  Song  Box.  This  is  very  useful 
when  you  have  composed  a  song  with  standard  verses  and 
choruses. 

Finally,  Dynamic  Drums  can  also  use  MIDI  for  clock 
synchronization  as  well  as  note  input,  and  there  is  a  menu 
item  which  turns  on  and  off  the  built-in  low  pass  filter  on 
the  Amiga  500  and  2000  computers.  As  icing  on  the  cake. 
New  Wave  furnishes  an  audio  cassette  containing  a  short 
tutorial  on  programming  patterns  and  songs. 


SUMMARY 

Of  the  three  programs,  Drum  Studio  is  clearly  aimed  at 
the  hobbyist  and  is  very  inexpensive.  While  it  is  far  less 
versatile  than  the  other  two  programs,  it  is  also  quite  sim- 
ple and  easy  to  use.  The  more  serious  musician,  however, 
will  find  it  lacks  certain  vital  features  and  should  turn  to 
either  Dynamic  Drums  or  Adrum.  Of  the  two.  Dynamic 
Drums  offers  the  most  features  and  has  more  sounds  and 
sample  patterns  and  songs  than  Adrum.  Adrum,  however, 
has  the  ability  to  store  more  patterns  and  songs  in  mem- 
ory, and  this  could  be  an  advantage  for  some  users.  The 
manuals  for  all  three  programs  are  quite  short,  but  with 
programs  of  this  nature,  the  best  way  to  learn  is  by  trial 
and  error.  To  facilitate  your  comparison  of  the  three  pro- 
grams, I  have  included  a  chart  addressing  the  salient  fea- 
tures of  each. 

No  matter  which  program  you  do  purchase  (and  all  are 
reasonably  priced).  I  think  you  will  find  all  produce  real- 
istic drum  sounds  which  can  easily  be  transferred  to  tape 
for  use  as  a  drum  track  in  musical  compositions.  Finally. 
these  programs  again  show  the  power  and  versatility  of  the 
Amiga,  and  prove  that  it  certainly  marches  to  the  beat  of 
a  different  drummer.  □ 


MS-DOS 
MEETS  AMIDADOS 


Part  I: 
Putting  It  All  Together 

By  Ted  Salomon 


This  series  of  articles  is  going  to  explore  the  world 
of  MS-DOS  as  it  relates  to  the  Amiga  2000,  via 
the  Bridgeboard.  MS-DOS  stands  for  Microsoft 
Disk  Operating  System,  the  operating  system 
driving  the  vast  majority  of  IBM  and  IBM-compatible  mi- 
crocomputers. Commodore  has  licensed,  and  provides  with 
the  Bridgeboard,  a  special  version  of  MS-DOS  designed 
for  the  Amiga. 

Such  derivatives  are  commonplace.  For  example,  PC- 
DOS  is  the  official  IBM  version  of  MS-DOS.  In  many  ways 
they  are  the  same,  though  there  are  differences  introduced 
by  IBM  to  support  special  features  in  its  hardware.  Other 
companies,  such  as  Compaq  and  Zenith,  also  license  spe- 
cial versions  for  their  hardware.  In  this  instance,  Com- 
modore is  right  in  tune  with  the  mainstream  players,  and 
you  get  to  reap  the  rewards. 

Whether  you  already  own  a  2000  with  a  Bridgeboard, 
or  are  contemplating  the  investment,  you'll  benefit  from  these 
articles.  Topics  will  range  from  installation  and  troubleshoot- 
ing to  alternate  setups,  benefits,  and  reviews  of  MS-DOS 
application  software  that  has  been  tested  in  my  office. 

THE  PLAYERS-A  SHORT  BIO 

Commodore  supplies  MS-DOS  3.2  with  the  A2088,  the 
official  designation  for  the  Bridgeboard.  Most  IBM  and 
compatible  owners  have  to  pay  for  their  DOS;  the  current 
list  price  is  around  $125.00! 

3.2  is  strictly  a  command  line  interface,  a  la  CLI.  There 
are  no  icons,  windows,  or  graphic  interfaces,  just  a  greater 
than  sign  followed  by  the  disk  drive  identifier  and  a  blink- 
ing cursor. 

Commodore  also  bundles  GW-BASIC.  a  standard  prac- 
tice for  most  IBM  compatibles.  IBM  machines  have  an- 
other version  of  BASIC  built  into  ROM.  The  versions  are 
nearly  identical,  so  there  are  very  few  incompatibility  is- 
sues; the  majority  of  those  are  the  result  of  programmers 
bending  the  rules. 

A  300+  page  manual  does  double  duty  as  the  MS-DOS 
User's  Guide  and  Reference.  A  separate,  smaller  manual 
covers  GW-BASIC,  and  the  Bridgeboard  User's  Manual 


rounds  out  the  paperwork. 

The  A2088  is  a  card  which  fits  into  an  IBM  PC  slot  and 
an  Amiga  slot  simultaneously.  The  2088  provides  PC  XT 
compatibility,  processing  power,  and  speed.  An  Intel  8088 
processor  is  mounted  on  the  board,  heart  of  the  compati- 
bility. 

But,  the  Bridgeboard  is  more  than  another  CPU  running 
on  its  own.  Because  it  resides  in  both  buses  simultaneous- 
ly, MS-DOS  runs  as  a  window  under  AmigaDOS,  with  the 
advanced  ability  to  share  files  across  operating  systems!  Am- 
iga fdes  can  be  written  to  MS-DOS  disks  and  vice  versa. 
The  Amiga's  multitasking  comes  into  play,  allowing  one  MS- 
DOS  session  and  multiple  Amiga  sessions  at  the  same  time. 
Try  that  on  an  IBM  running  MS-DOS;  you  won't  get  very 
far. 

The  2088  has  room  for  an  Intel  math  coprocessor,  the 
8087  model.  This  chip  allows  programs  specifically  writ- 
ten to  address  the  chip  to  perform  number  crunching  with 
added  alacrity.  Running  at  4.77  megaHertz,  outfitted  with 
512K  of  RAM,  and  sporting  an  D3M-compatible  BIOS,  the 
Bridgeboard  is  truly  a  computer  on  a  board. 

The  kit  also  includes  a  360K  floppy  disk  drive  (drive  A 
in  MS-DOS  lingo)  and  cables  to  connect  the  drive  to  the 
2088.  (An  optional  MS-DOS  hard  drive  can  be  installed 
in  lieu  of,  or  in  addition  to,  an  Amiga  hard  drive.) 

Special  software  is  provided  to  create  the  MS-DOS  en- 
vironment. Files  such  as  Install,  in  all  its  iterations,  are  run 
once.  Others,  such  as  PC  Mono  or  PC  Color,  and  PC  Disk 
are  run  to  start  or  fully  use  the  features  of  an  MS-DOS 
session. 

PC  Mono  specifies  your  monitor  as  monochrome  (with 
a  twist);  PC  Color  tells  the  system  it  is  color.  LPT1  acti- 
vates the  Amiga  parallel  port  as  an  MS-DOS  printer  port 
(LPT1  in  MS-DOS  terms),  and  PC  Disk  makes  it  possible 
to  share  files  between  the  two  operating  systems. 

The  system  in  use  for  these  articles  currently  comprises 
a  3  meg  2000  with  dfO,  dhO  (20  Megs),  a  2088,  and  the 
360K  floppy  (A>)  installed.  Output  is  to  a  Commodore 
1084  monitor  and  assorted  Epson  and  IBM  printers  and  a 
Hewlett-Packard  7550A  8-pen  color  plotter.  The  hard  drive 

Ahoyl's  Amiga  User     71 


docs  not  autoboot;  the  "A"  model  controller  card  is  on  the 
way. 

Besides  the  initial  outlay  for  the  2000,  there  is  a  decent 
monetary  commitment  necessary  to  install  a  2088.  As  it 
stands  now,  that  commitment  is  around  $1000.  What  does 
a  grand  get  you? 

THE  BENEFITS 

Some  critics  say  they  can  get  a  clone  for  less  than  SI000. 
Perhaps;  but  can  they  share  Files  and  multitask,  and  do  they 
have  the  room  for  another  system?  Can  they  afford  another 
monitor,  another  workstation,  etc.?  There  are  convenien- 
ces that  mere  clones  cannot  provide. 

Once  the  Bridgeboard  is  installed  you  can  add  any  type 
of  MS-DOS  expansion  board  in  the  XT  slots -hard  cards 
(hard  disks  on  a  card),  additional  memory,  enhanced  vid- 
eo graphic  cards,  serial  ports  for  telecommunications  and 
special  printers,  network  boards,  etc.  AmigaDOS  and  ap- 
plication programs  can  also  access  the  MS-DOS  hard  drives 
if  an  Amiga  partition  is  created. 

Curiously  enough,  the  PC  mono  software  does  the  reg- 
ular IBM  world  one  better.  Instead  of  green  or  amber  text 
on  a  black  background,  you  can  pick  four  colors  from  the 
Amiga's  4096.  PC  Color,  on  the  other  hand,  allows  up  to 
16  colors  for  text  and  4  for  graphics.  And  now  for  some- 
thing completely  different— both  displays  can  be  shown  si- 
multaneously on  an  Amiga  monitor.  In  the  IBM  world  that 
requires  two  monitors,  typically  one  for  program  (menus) 


and  one  for  graphics. 

MS-DOS  virtual  drives  can  also  be  created.  Up  to  four 
of  these  devices  can  reside  anywhere— an  Amiga  RAM 
drive,  floppy  disk,  or  hard  disk.  It's  a  powerful  way  to  seg- 
ment files  and  processes. 

Another  plus  is  access  to  the  extremely  abundant  MS- 
DOS  software  library.  While  the  quality  and  quantity  of 
Amiga-specific  software  is  increasing,  there  are  unique  pro- 
grams not  available  for  the  Amiga.  MAP-MASTER  from 
AshtonTate  comes  to  mind.  This  product  provides  geograph- 
ic data  analysis  and  presentation  capabilities.  Demograph- 
ic, census,  and  corporate  data  can  be  tied  to  county,  state, 
and  zip  code  boundaries  to  determine  sales  potential,  site 
location  selection,  and  similar  tasks.  It  has  other  features 
as  well.  There  are  plenty  of  other  programs  not  found  on 
the  Amiga. 

POTENTIAL  PITFALLS 

First  of  all,  your  wallet  will  be  lighter  if  you  go  for  the 
2088.  Still,  in  a  cost-conscious  mode,  consider  that  the  aver- 
age MS-DOS  software  is  more  expensive  than  its  Amiga 
counterpart. 

In  the  troubleshooting/cost-conscious  mode,  factor  in  30 
to  60  minutes'  worth  of  long  distance  calls  to  Commodore's 
tech  support  line.  Despite  an  easy  physical  installation  and 
a  limited  number  of  setup  procedures/programs.  Murphy's 
Law  dictates  that  a  supportive  shoulder  will  be  needed. 
That's  because  of  the  Amiga  2000's  more  sophisticated  com- 


THE  MASTER  3-A  DISK  DRIVE 

(fully  compatible  with  the  Amiga) 


Amiga  is  a  registered  trademark  ol  Commodore  Electronics  LTD 


72     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


E.C.I. 

1-800-356-5178 


Circle  #206  on  Reader  Service  Card 


puting  environment- one  of  the  most  advanced  in  the  mi- 
crocomputer industry. 

Also  consider  the  time  investment.  Fine  tuning  the  in- 
stallation and  learning  all  its  nuances  could  take  anywhere 
from  5  to  15  hours,  depending  upon  the  overall  ease  of  in- 
stallation. (We're  not  considering  the  time  to  learn  MS-DOS, 
either.) 

INSTALLATION 

The  2088  manual  clearly  explains  and  depicts  (via  pho- 
tos and  line  art)  the  installation  process.  Turn  off  all  the 
power,  disconnect  power  cords  and  monitor  cables.  Unscrew 
the  cabinet  and  pull  the  cover. 

The  first  part  actually  installed  is  the  5.25"  floppy  drive. 
Nothing  is  left  to  chance  between  the  detailed  written  in- 
structions and  four  photos.  There  are  two  separate  illustra- 
tions depicting  cable  connections— one  for  the  drive,  an- 
other for  the  2088. 

Dropping  the  Bridgeboard  into  the  Amiga  is  as  clearly 
delineated.  (Make  sure  the  card  is  seated  properly;  it's  a 
tight  fit  between  two  different  bus  slots.  During  one  of  my 
troubleshooting  sessions  I  didn't  seat  it  properly  and  was 
greeted  by  a  graphic  display  of  absolutely  nothing— not  even 
the  Amiga  side  worked.  Luckily  nothing  blew  out.) 

Once  the  cover  is  reseated,  it's  time  to  power  up  and  run 
the  Bridgeboard  install  program.  The  provided  3.5"  disk 
comes  with  Bridgelnstall,  Bridgelnstall  512  (for  machines 
with  512K  RAM),  Sidecarlnstall  (only  for  A1000  owners), 
Minilnstall,  a  ReadMe  file,  and  a  PC  drawer  which  holds 
PC  Mono,  PC  Color,  LPT1  and  PC  Disk  (as  explained  pre- 
viously). 

My  initial  Amiga  setup,  as  received  from  Commodore, 
was  a  Boot  disk  containing  Janus  and  Hard  Disk  files  so 
dhO  would  be  recognized  from  the  Workbench.  Because 
of  that,  some  of  the  circumstances  described  here  are  dif- 
ferent from  those  typically  encountered  with  machines  pur- 
chased from  dealers.  Still,  there's  plenty  to  learn  from  this 
scenario,  particularly  how  good  the  tech  support  group  is. 

I  had  failed  (several  times)  in  getting  Bridgelnstall  to  work. 
(BI  is  the  preferred  install  routine  for  expanded  RAM  ma- 
chines.) Don't  bother  with  Minilnstall,  and  you've  already 
been  told  about  the  other  routines. 

Copying  it  to  the  hard  disk  was  definitely  not  the  thing 
to  do.  At  one  point  it  worked  part  way;  the  step  where  it 
erases  the  c  directory,  etc.,  and  reinstalls  new  versions  from 
files  previously  uploaded  to  a  RAM  drive  didn't  finish.  My 
hard  drive  no  longer  had  a  c  directory.  It  was  also  missing 
several  others;  it  was  dead  in  the  water.  (This  caused  gnash- 
ing of  the  teeth  and  wringing  of  the  hands— in  Commo- 
dore's tech  support  group.  I  wasn't  too  happy  either. )  Nat- 
urally this  procedure  was  attempted  without  backing  up  the 
afflicted  directories. 

Yet,  salvation  was  nearby.  I  had  made  two  extra  working 
copies  of  install  disks,  and  likewise  for  WB  1.2.  A  little 
CLI  work  and  the  missing  directories  were  reinstalled.  Tech 
support  had  me  create  one  or  two  files,  and  rename  one 
or  two  others— these  procedures  were  not  in  the  manual. 
So,  the  rule  of  thumb  is  to  call  when  logic  and  the  direc- 
tions don't  seem  to  make  sense  (or  work). 

Making  a  custom  Workbench  disk  with  the  BI  also  didn't 


work,  because  the  system  lost  the  ability  to  find  dhO.  Tech 
support  finally  got  me  on  the  right  track  (after  30  or  40 
minutes). 

To  make  a  long  story  short,  working  from  a  clean  copy 
of  Workbench  1.2  1  stripped  out  everything  but  the  core 
system  drawer  and  Preferences.  Then  I  installed  the  Janus 
and  Hard  Disk  files  in  a  drawer,  followed  by  BI. 

BI  worked  like  a  charm,  erasing  old  files  and  installing 
new  versions.  After  rebooting,  my  modified  WB  disk  recog- 
nized the  hard  drive,  so  I  opened  the  PC  drawer  on  the 
hard  drive. 

MY  FIRST  TIME 

Clicking  on  PC  Color,  with  WB  in  dfO  and  MS-DOS 
in  the  5.25"  drive,  I  was  rewarded  with  an  MS-DOS  time 
and  date  prompt.  The  UA  >"  was  there  in  all  its  minimalist 
glory,  surrounded  by  an  Amiga  style  border  and  topped  off 
by  a  mouse-activated  pulldown  menu.  After  turning  the  bor- 
der on  and  off  a  few  times  I  resized  the  window  to  access 
the  WB  screen.  In  the  PC  drawer  I  double  clicked  on  LFT1 
to  activate  the  printer  port.  (Disregard  the  initial  MS-DOS 
message  that  identifies  LPT1  at  a  certain  address.  It  is  not 
active  until  LPT1  is  run.) 

Then  I  activated  PC  Disk  and  went  exploring. 

In  the  next  installment  well  cover  some  of  the  operation- 
al wonders,  spend  some  more  time  on  details,  and  discuss 
the  profound  mysteries  of  virtual  disks.  I  may  even  get  my 
MS-DOS  hard  card  installed  by  then.  □ 


November  1985 

CSA  introduces  the  first  Amiga  WOO  accelerator 

March  1986: 

CSA  introduces  the  first  ZORRO  I  accelerator 

February  1987: 

CSA  introduces  the  first  A2000  and  A500 
accelerators 

January  1988: 

CSA  introduces  the  first  68030  accelerator. 

September  1988. 


CSA  PRESENTS  THE  DragSirip 
AMIGA  2000  RAM  ACCELERATOR 


Faster  than  you  can  imagine, 
at  a  price  you  won't  believe. 

Completely  compatible 
No  modifications  required 

The  leader  in  hi-tech  performance, 

brings  you  the  most 

economical  way  to  accel. 


Computer  System  Associates  Inc. 


7564  TRADE  STREET.  SAN  DIEGO.  CALIFORNIA  92121 

TELEPHONE  (519)  566-3911       TELEX  333693 

TECHNICAL  HOTLINE  (619)566-3923       FAX  NO.  (619)  566-0581 

Amiga  is  the  trademark  of  Commodore  Business  Machines,  Inc. 


Circle  #204  on  Reader  Service  Cord 


Ahoy  I 's  AmigaUser    73 


FLOTSAM 

Continued  from  page  59 

here's  mine. 

There's  one  feature  I  miss  in  all  magazines:  a  special  sec- 
tion with  tips  and  tricks  tor  solving  games.  Not  reviews, 
but  advice  and  help.  Best  of  all  would  be  a  game  page  which 
could  be  clipped  out  and  saved  along  with  the  game  instruc- 
tions. 

By  the  way,  I  strongly  believe  that  such  help  sheets  should 
be  included  in  the  game  package.  We  do  spend  a  lot  of  mon- 
ey on  games,  and  not  everybody  is  a  computer  wizard. 

—Heinz  Forstner 
Toronto,  Ontario 

'Die  feature  you  describe  is  one  that  would  be  best  writ- 


ten by  readers,  who  could  pool  their  knowledge  on  hun- 
dreds of  titles.  We  invite  gaming  enthusiasts  to  submit  their 
hints;  if  we  receive  enough  on  a  regular  basis,  we'll  devote 
a  column  to  them. 

Here's  another  vote  in  favor  of  Stephen  E.  Franklin's  pro- 
posed C-64  motherboard  for  the  Amiga  (Ed.  note:  see  Flot- 
sam, August  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser).  Major  companies  (Ac- 
cess, Epyx,  Electronic  Arts,  etc.)  should  push  for  the  crea- 
tion of  such  a  board-they  should  realize  that  it  would  en- 
able them  to  make  a  bigger  profit  than  ever  before.  Soft- 
ware emulation  is  good,  but  extremely  slow.  I  don't  want 
to  throw  away  my  expensive  C-64  system  just  because  Com- 
modore is  lazy.  -Shazada  Williams 

Brooklyn,  NY 


CALLING  ALL 
COMPUTER  RETAILERS! 

Would  you  like  to: 

•  Get  free  national  advertising? 

•  Increase  store  traffic? 

•  Acquire  the  most  avid  Commodore  computer- 
ists  in  your  area  as  steady  customers? 

Simply  offer  a  10%  discount  to  members  of  the  Ahoy!  Ac- 
cess Club,  comprised  of  all  subscribers  to  Ahoy!  and 
Ahoyl's  AmigaUser  (see  page  17).  We'll  list  your  store 
name,  address,  and  phone  number  in  the  Clipper  (our 
monthly  newsletter)  and  on  the  Ahoy!  Access  Club  BBS. 
Then,  the  next  time  a  member  in  your  town  wants  to  make 
a  purchase,  he'll  pass  your  competitors  by.  (Unless,  of 
course,  your  competitors  are  listed— in  which  case  you'd 
really  better  be!) 

If  an  across-the-board  discount  is  not  feasible  for  you,  but 
you'd  like  to  offer  our  members  some  other  incentive  to 
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74     Ahoyl's  AmigaUser 


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Exp.  Date 


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_State_ 


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U1288 
December  1988  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser  Void  After  March  15,  1989 

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forward  your  request  to  the  designated  companies. 

101  102    103  104  105  10«    107  109    109    110    111     112    113    114    115    116    117    111    11*    120    121     122    123    124    125    125  127    125  129    130 

131  132   133  134  135  135   137  139    139   1*0   141    142   143   144   149   149   147   149   149   190    151    152    153   194    155   199  157   159  159   190 

151  1<2    193  194  19*  199   197  199   199   170    171    172    173    174    175    179    177    175    179    190    191    192   193   194    195    196  117    199  169   1« 

191  192    193  194  195  195    197  195    199    200    201     202    203    204    205    209    207    209    209    210    211    212    213    214    215    219  217    219  219    220 

221  222  223  224  225  226  227  226  229  230   231    232  233   234  235   236  237   239   239  240  241    242  243  244   245   245  247  249  249   250 

231  252    253  254  255  256    257  259    259    290    261    262    293    294    295    299    257    299    299    270    271    272    273    274   273   279  277   279  279   290 

291  292   213  294  235  296    297  299    299    290   291    292    293    294    295    296    297   299    299   300   301    302   303    304   305   305  107    309  309   310 


A.  Pleas*  check  wfwthar  yog  in,.. 
1.  Q  nwh>       G  tamale 

B.  Whtl  14  your  ag*7 

1.  D  under  19         2.  .     19-24         3.  0  25-34 

4.  □  35-44         5.  □  45-54         6.  G  55-94         7,  D  tS> 

C.  Education  lev*t  completed 

1  n  elementary         2.  Q  hlflh  school 

3.  Q  Junior  collag*       4.  a  coltogo  gradual* 

5.  G  master's  dtgnt       5.  G  PhD 


D.  From  which  of  In*  following  sources  did  you  obtain  your  copy 

of  MOffr  Am&UMf? 
1.  G  nowutind       2.  O  subscription  (mail) 

3.  u  from  t  Irland  or  family  mambar 

4.  U  ottwr 


If  nol  currently  a  subscriber,  do  you  plan  to  become  on*? 
1.  G  y*a       2.  G  no 


Name 

Address. 
City 


_State_ 


-Zip- 


December  1988  Ahoyl's  AmigaUser  Void  After  March  15,  1989 

READER  SERVICE  CARD 

To  request  additional  information  on  any  product  in  this  issue  of  AhoyPs  AmigaUser  that  is  accompanied 
by  a  reader  service  number,  circle  the  corresponding  number  below  and  mail  this  card.  We  will  promptly 
forward  your  request  to  the  designated  companies. 

101  102  103  104  101    10*  107     109     109     110    111  112  11*    114    119    II*    117    11*    11*    1M    121    121    113    114    119  11*  117    12*  11*  190 

111  111  1*3  134  119    119  117    119    131    140    141  143  141    144    141    14*    147    14*    149    190    191    111    191    194    199  199  197    199  199  1*0 

<I1  112  1*3  1(4  191    1M  197    1U    119    170    171  172  171     174    171     171    177    179    171     IK    111     112     1*1     194    191  IH  117    19*  11*  1*0 

111  113  1(3  1*4  195    1K  117    1H    1*4    200    201  202  201    204    206    20*    207    20*    20*    210    211    213    311    214    216  21*  217    Ml  311  2SO 

221  222  223  224  223    234  237   331    22*    2»    211  !12  211    214    215    2M   217   231   231    240   341    343    343    344    341  34*  1*7   2*4  J<»  250 

2*1  2*2  2(3  2*4  3(1    399  J97   299    299   HO   2*1  1*1  1*3   1*4   M*   K*   M7   M4    Ms)   170   171    171    171    171   27*  17*  177  171  271  1*0 

III  211  1*1  2(4  31S    314  217    IH    2(1   2*0    2*1  2«  2*1   1*4    3**   19*   2*7   1M   It*   MO   101    102   Ml    K4   HI  M*  107  M*  M*  110 


A.  Plaaa*  choc*,  whether  you 
l.  O  mala       C  asmal* 
B  What  la  your  ea*7 
1.  G  under  »       2.  L  _ 
4.  O  35-44         5.  D  49-94 


2.  D  19-14         3.  G  35-34 

9.  O  9944        7.  O  45. 


C.  Education  I*y*I  comptotad 
1.  Q  alarm  nlary        2.  3  hujh  achool 
1.  -'  pjnkK  eolfaga        4.  D  colwg*  gm 
5.  D  ma—arts  dogma       *  G  PhD 


D.  From  which  of  tha  following  aourcas  Old  you  obtain  your  copy 

Of  A/Hyflj  AAkQOUaarir 

1.  D  nawaaund        2.  ::  autwcrtpllon  (mall) 

3.  LJ    lYCtfel  A  f&rtvftO  Of   loVsTwy   nalrflbBsaH 

4.  O  othwe 

H  nol  currently  a  aubacrfbar,  do  you  plan  to  bacon-*  on*7 

1.  D  y*a       1.  O  no 


Name 

Address. 
City 


.State. 


-ZIP- 


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IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES 


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ser 


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in iiir....i.M..ii.i..i.i...,i.i.i.i.i.i..i 


PLACE 
STAMP 
HERE 


ser 


P.O.  BOX  8471 
Boulder,  CO  80329-8471 


II..I.II II..,I.II.I.,ImI..I..II.,iI,..I1ImI,I 


PLACE 
STAMP 
HERE 


ser 


P.O.  BOX  8471 
Boulder,  CO  80329-8471 


llnl.ll Iln, 1, 11,1, , I, , I, , lull,,, I, ,,111, ,1,1 


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